In the blink of an eye, it was the spring of March in the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, and the queen's belly was already bulging obviously, she touched her belly every day to talk to the baby, and the maternal love buried in her heart instantly flooded.

Zhu Ao went to see Sun Yunqi every day as usual, but he didn't stay with her for the night every time, because he had other concubines to take care of, and these women were all good to him, they were all people who followed him and helped him build the poor and white Su country into a rich country, and no one could be left out in the cold.

On this day, Zhu stayed in Dai Yuzhu's room. Concubine Dai Yuzhu was originally going to go to school, but Zhu Ao's purpose in letting her go to school was to change the ancient atmosphere that women were virtuous if they were not talented, and they didn't really want to turn her into a female scholar, so she came to Hami this time, and the taste of leaving this gentle and well-behaved little slave girl life would become lighter.

Dai Yuzhu is a very well-behaved student, and before leaving, she didn't forget to ask the school teacher for leave. I don't know why, this quiet and well-behaved concubine with a little inferiority complex was very happy that night, prepared a table of good dishes for Zhu Ao, and served the wine very diligently.

Zhu Ao knows the thoughts of this little wife who has been serving him since she was a child, and when she saw her appearance, she knew that she had a happy event, took her little hand, and asked with a smile: "What's wrong with you today?" Is there anything you're particularly happy about? ”

Dai Yuzhu smiled sweetly, smiled very happily, as if she had fallen into a honey pot, and said: "I can't hide anything from the eyes of the prince, enlighten the prince, and the concubines and concubines are also happy." ”

"Really?" Zhu Ao shouted excitedly, he was still worried about the heir last year, but he didn't expect to score twice this year, two concubines were pregnant one after another, and the descendants of the widow will be like the land of Suguo, more and more, hugged Dai Yuzhu horizontally, touched her head with her forehead, and deliberately pretended to be unhappy and said: "You dead girl, why didn't you say it earlier?" When was this? ”

Dai Yuzhu put her arms around his neck, plunged her head deep into his chest, and said coquettishly: "The concubine also just knew, the prince beware, don't startle the child?" ”

"Don't worry, the widow is measured." Zhu Ao slowly put her on the bed, frowned and thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Concubine Ai, you have been with the widow for the longest time, and you are the widow's first woman, what do you say our child will be crowned king in the future?" ”

Dai Yuzhu was born as a slave, and she had already held the consciousness of being a maid for a lifetime, but she didn't expect the prince to fall in love with her, and named her a princess, her child can also become a high king, not to mention how happy she is, with a child, everything is for the child to live, although she wants to find a better place for her son, but she doesn't want to get involved in the competition with other concubines, anyway, she can't be the prince, the king is the same everywhere, she can't starve to death, and smiled sweetly: "Thank you for hanging on the child, The concubine didn't think about making him have any great interest, as long as he could live his life peacefully, and then ask the prince to make him a county king. The concubines are forever grateful to the prince. ”

"The king of the county?" Zhu Ao then remembered that only the eldest son of the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty could inherit the prince, and the rest of the princes were demoted to the rank of county king, Dai Yuzhu was kind-hearted and very peaceful, and he didn't know that Zhu Yunwen would cut the domain in the future, so he always thought that Zhu Ao would be an honest vassal king, so her son could only be a county king.

Zhu Ao was not stupid enough to tell her directly that she was going to be self-reliant in the future, there was no point in not saying it, and it was easy to scare her, and said: "Don't worry, concubine, the widow will not treat the prince badly, after the prince and the prince are born, the widow wants to give them gifts, what do you say should be given?" ”

The prince thought about giving a gift to his own son, which made Dai Yuzhu happy more than the prince giving her a gift to herself, lowered her head and smiled sweetly, and said, "The concubine has the courage to ask the prince for the prince." The ancients said 'gentleman Peiyu', the concubine didn't think how much Wang Er could have, just thought that he could be a gentleman who read and reasoned, and live a peaceful life, please give him a piece of precious jade. ”

"Jade?" Zhu Ao rolled his eyes and thought about it, this is indeed a good thing, not to mention it, and it is very forced, but since he became a vassal, he has been miserably running the Su country, and all those gold and jade things have been sold for agricultural tools and seeds, and he can't find a suitable jade to give to his two unborn children for a while, and said: "Okay, the widow will give them two pieces of jade, which will definitely make Wang Er like it." ”

"The concubine has thanked the prince." Dai Yuzhu buried her head in his arms and smiled sweetly. I can't be in the house tonight again, it's really inappropriate for someone to throw down someone else's house and run to someone else's dormitory for the sake of her own desire, so ...... can only shamelessly find her two personal palace maids to do it for her.

This sentence is true in most cases, but it is also wrong sometimes, for example, if people are lucky, they can be hit by money when they go out.

Zhu Ao had been in Hami for a while, and was thinking about sending someone to buy good jade, when he got a piece of news that was enough to make him excited to drink two taels of wine more - Amat, the leader of Khotan, sent a tribute and expressed his willingness to return to the Su State.

Khotan is one of the four towns of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty, near today's Hotan, the geographical location belongs to southern Xinjiang, although there is also agriculture and planting, and even the silkworm raising of the Central Plains people, but due to the limitation of geography and climate, the scale is limited, and the whole agriculture is not developed as a whole. However, Khotan is also an important resource - jade, where the famous Hetian jade is produced.

Although Zhu Ao is not interested in these gold and jewelry shells, because although owning these things can make the common people rich, it is not a strategic resource for the king. However, not being interested does not mean that it is useless, after having these things, at least you can use it to exchange it for strategic materials in other places, let them play and appreciate these works of art as elegant, and the widow only needs money, food, soldiers and horses These real things.

Since Zhu Ao had not yet returned to Dunhuang, he drove the envoys from Khotan to Hami from Dunhuang. Zhu Ao received him in the palace of the great king of Hami. As soon as he entered Zhu Ao's main hall, he hurriedly walked two steps, knelt down in the middle of the main hall, and kowtowed: "Weichen knocks to see the king is a thousand years old, a thousand years old." ”

Zhu Ao looked at the messenger kneeling on the ground, his eyes were shining, this is a huge wealth, stretched out his hand, helped slightly, and said with a smile: "Aiqing has worked hard all the way, and you Khotanese lord wants to submit to my country, and the widow already knows about it." You are well aware of the righteousness, you can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, the heart of the widow is very comforting, in the future, you will be the minister of my country, and the widow will not treat you badly. ”

Khotan was originally part of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Chagatai Khan was in civil strife, and Hami became independent.

Now that the Eastern Chagatai Khanate has been beaten by Zhu Ao, its national strength has been greatly damaged, and its control over the princes in these places has been greatly weakened, and they have become restless again. After repeated considerations, Amat of Khotan, the lord of Khotan, believed that according to the current situation, the Su State backed by the powerful Ming Dynasty will dominate the Western Regions, and instead of working alone for a few days The emperor is addicted, it is better to return to the Su State as soon as possible, and he can also improve his own value, so he sent an envoy to express his attachment and be a courtier of the Ming Dynasty forever.

The Khotanese envoy kowtowed heavily on the ground and said, "Thank you for the king's grace, I am willing to be a courtier of the kingdom forever in Khotan. ”

"Good, good, good." Zhu Ao nodded with great satisfaction, and said with a smile: "The envoy came from afar to ask for surrender is meritorious, the widow named you as the fifth grade of the Ministry of Rites, and after the widow and the ministers study the method of resettlement in Khotan, they will send you back to restore your life." ”

This envoy from Khotan was so happy that he got the official position of a five-rank official after just coming and running an errand, although the rank was not too high, but he also knew that according to the strength of Khotan, Amat would not get much of an official position after surrendering, let alone himself? Getting a five-grade official is already burning high incense, kowtowing to Zhu Ao, and saying very gratefully: "Thank you to my king, my king is a thousand years old, a thousand years old." ”

Zhu Ao laughed, very cheerful, and waved his hand casually, signaling him to step back. The envoy from Khotan respectfully withdrew from the temple and went to rest at the inn.

The next thing is to discuss how to settle in Khotan, because Zhu Ao brought the main officials of Su to Hami, so all the military affairs of Su Guo were handled in Hami, which was nothing more than a waste of transportation fees for the post station.

The general idea of the resettlement method was to allow Khotan to play a good exemplary role, but also to thoroughly digest Khotan, and not to use the fetters system, so that it could only be given the false name of a suzerain.

In order to show his attention to this matter, Zhu Ao specially put on a solemn Jiuzhang Gon dragon robe, sat on the throne, and said to the ministers with a serious face: "Ladies and gentlemen, the widow's thinking just now has been very clear, please discuss how we should settle in the lord of Khotan." ”

Liu Bang famously said: "If you are not of my race, your heart will be different." "The ancient ethnic minorities were afraid of power but not virtue, seeing that the Central Plains Dynasty was strong, they hurriedly attached, mixed with a marquis and other titles, and when the Central Plains Dynasty declined, they immediately turned their faces, faster than turning a book.

According to the intentions of the generals, they simply sent troops to occupy it, and the lord of Khotan made it out and arranged it for a casual position, but Zhu Ao's words just now had actually obviously rejected this rough approach.

His idea is obvious, that is, he wants Khotan to play a good demonstration role, so that the surrounding countries of all sizes can see how good it is to follow the widow, how much meat to eat, if you rob other people's territory as soon as you go up, then who will join you in the future?

The ministers chattered and discussed for a long time, and finally Guan Ziyu, who was full of strategy, stood up and made a gesture at Zhu Ao, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thought that he could set up the Khotanese Guard, and Feng Amat was the commander of the Khotanese Guard. ”

As soon as the words fell, they were opposed by a bunch of ministers: "No! Commanders can be hereditary, isn't this a fetters system? If they still have different intentions in the future, it will be very difficult for us to subdue them. ”

Facts have proved that when others are discussing problems, you must listen to what others have said before you speak, otherwise you will be slapped in the face.

Sure enough, when Bing Cao judged Guan Ziyu heard this, he said with an unhappy face: "Wait for the reckless man, and wait for the old man to finish speaking." As far as the minister knows, Amat, the lord of Khotan, is 55 years old this year, and he is dying of old age. We have appointed him as the commander of the Khotanese guards, and allowed him to be hereditary, so that we can not only calm his heart, but also set an example to other places, so that they can see that after surrendering to our kingdom, our king will not take his land. At the same time, our king can recruit several sons of the Khotanese lord to the imperial court to appoint officials, firstly, to buy people's hearts, and secondly, to play a role in containing the Khotanese lord. After the death of the lord of Khotan, my king was revoked in Khotan, and his sons were all officials in the imperial court, so he would not make any trouble. ”

Sure enough, it was an old fox, Zhu Ao actually laughed out unkindly, this strategy is really vicious, the so-called slow knife cutting meat should be this kind of operation, so that it can not only achieve the purpose of making Khotan play a leading role in demonstration, but also can easily subdue it in the future, simple-minded people can't think of such a clever plan, nodded very happily, looked at the Bing Cao judgment he personally selected with approving eyes, and said: "The Bing Cao judgment is really strategic, this plan is very good." In addition, the widow decided that Khotanese would have five thousand households under his jurisdiction, of which three thousand would be composed of all the local garrisons, and the other two would be supplemented by the widow's troops. ”

This young prince is even more vicious, in this way, even if the lord of Khotan has a different heart in the future, he will not dare to act rashly, how can his three shrimp soldiers and crabs form a thousand households, how can they eat the two full thousand households of the Ming Su army? By the time reinforcements arrived, he would have been packed and taken away.

"The king is wise." All the ministers bowed down one after another and seconded in unison. There is nothing to dispute about this point of discussion, and the above strategy is undoubtedly the best strategy, and everyone agrees with it.

Next, it's time to fight for the jade of Khotan, after all, the place where the bird doesn't poop is just such a valuable thing, and now that it has finally been attached to the Su State, how can it be easily given up?

The ministers glanced at each other, and some secretly looked at Zhu Ao's face, and when they saw him, they were quite happy, and said: "Your Majesty, under the leadership of the king, the industry and commerce of our Su country have made great progress, and the people also have people who specialize in the jade business. ”

Depend on. Money is really the most magical thing in the world, it can make people take risks again and again, these people know that they have little chance of letting go, and they try again and again, it's really difficult for them, what makes it beneficial to the people? Can ordinary people be qualified to have the strength to mine jade? Isn't it the merchants who have all kinds of connections with you to mine? When the time comes, you officials and businessmen collude to get the country's resources into your own hands, so that the widow dies of poverty like Chongzhen, you are turning your head to Li Zicheng, who killed the widow, and then greatly belittled the widow in the memoirs and history books, and greatly improved your image. The widow could also grant him the right to mine jade for a certain period of time. ”

This method was inspired by Lao Zhu's method of opening the middle, that is, using high profits to encourage merchants to transport the strategic materials they needed. Although the rulers of feudal society suppressed commerce and merchants for various reasons, no one could ignore the enormous power of merchants, so smart rulers were very good at taking advantage of this powerful carrying ability of merchants.

At this time, the ministers were dumbfounded, it seems that this young king is really not easy to fool, so he broke off his mind of doing things under him as soon as possible, and worked honestly.

Zhu Ao didn't intend to make the ministers' economic problems so dead, but he knew that with the ability of their group of people, they couldn't starve to death even if they didn't pay their salaries. Zhu Ao doesn't care about these, after all, he is also in business, but if they want to embezzle or use other means to make their own money, then there is no need to discuss, they must always be vigilant and severely suppressed.

The question of the resettlement of Khotan was thus settled, and Zhu Ao sent back the envoy of Khotan, asked him to convey his appointment to the lord of Khotan, and sent two troops of a thousand households to escort him back to Khotan.

Seeing this posture, the lord of Khotan had to agree if he didn't agree, and the conditions offered by Zhu Hao were not unacceptable, so he happily accepted the appointment of the commander of Khotanwei, and happily sent his sons to the court as officials. Of course, giving gifts to leaders is essential. There is nothing else here in Khotan, that is, it is rich in jade, and the people of Khotan believe in Buddhism, and Buddhism is very popular in China, so Khotanese Wei commanded Amat to order people to use exquisite Hetian jade to create a beautiful jade Guanyin sent his sons to Zhu Hao, and also sent many other jade.

Although the amount of these jade objects is small, all of them are beautiful, and it can be seen that the craftsmen put great care in making them. Zhu Ao only kept one piece with him, and gave the rest of the jade to his wives, which caused all the women to cheer, and the king had never given them so many things at one time.

As for the jade Guanyin, Zhu Ao kept it, the jade carving was too exquisite, and there was only one piece, it was not suitable to give it to that wife, it was easy to arouse the jealousy of other people, causing instability in the harem.

"It would be nice if my mother was here, she believes in Buddhism, and the widow can give her this Jade Guanyin." When Zhu Ao took his wives to admire this Jade Guanyin in the harem, he couldn't help but think of his mother who loved him very much, and said lightly.

Queen Sun Yunqi held her big belly, walked up to Zhu Ao, grabbed his arm and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, why don't you give this Jade Guanyin to Concubine Guo Ning, she also believes in Buddhism." ”

It's really a sentence to wake up the dreamer, the mother of the vassal king can't follow her son to the fiefdom, but this has to get Lao Zhu's approval. Although Lao Zhu generally does not let people go easily, but there are exceptions to everything, Gao is not favored, this is a blessing in disguise, Lao Zhu should not care too much about her going, at this time, someone blows the wind on him, coupled with his own performance, it is not impossible for him to let Gao come over to reunite with his mother and son. Otherwise, it would not be easy to do it if those two people who advocated cutting the feudal clan came up and detained my mother and threatened him.

It's too cost-effective for a jade Guanyin to exchange for her mother to come to Suguo, so give it to Concubine Guo Ning, it can be regarded as making the best use of it, Zhu Ao touched the queen Sun Yunqi's already bulging belly, and said with a smile: "The queen is really a widow's virtuous helper, everything is thoughtful for the widow." ”

As for Amat's sons, Zhu Ao granted them the official positions of six Cao Shilang to Zuo Lang, anyway, they are all false positions, which belong to chicken ribs, and the biggest advantage of chicken ribs is that they don't feel distressed when they give away people, and it is a very suitable deal to exchange a few false positions for a piece of land.

After the secret military factory was put on the track, Zhu Ao took the harem and a minister back to Dunhuang, because the queen and the concubine were pregnant, Zhu Ao specially arranged a spacious carriage for one of them, and walked very slowly on the road, and did not encounter any trouble along the way.

At this time, it was the turn of the spring and summer of the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, according to the original historical records, Zhu Ao was only in Zhangye at this time, if he still did things according to the previous historical trend, then he wasted three years of development time, and Su Guo would never be what it is now.

So far, all walks of life in the country have been developing steadily, with the investment of one million in agriculture, a large amount of wasteland has been reclaimed, and a large number of water conservancy facilities have been built, and grain production will certainly make steady progress and a bumper harvest in the future. Other industries are also snowballing, the catering industry and the entertainment industry are making money, and the most profitable is the silk and porcelain shop that he and Qu Zhongxin jointly opened, transporting the silk from the south of the Yangtze River to six taels of silver, and then selling it to foreigners for fifteen taels of silver.

Qu Zhongxin had already told the eldest brother and second brother who were far away in Shanxi about his cooperation with King Su, and the eldest of the Qu family only said one sentence after seeing the letter from the third brother: "Our Qu family is about to develop." "There is nothing more lucrative in the world than doing business with a king. So, he took care of Shanxi's business and brought the main force of the Qu family to Su Guo, hoping to seek greater development of the Qu family in Su State.