"Brother, look, I built this bed with my own hands, as well as this bookcase, this bookshelf, this table and chair......"

"Brother, look, I also planned and built the small pavilion in the lake, and I also made the tables and chairs on it."

"And that pleasure boat, two feet long and three feet long, ...... wide"

On August 30 of the fifth year of the Apocalypse, eight days have passed since Zhu Youzhen dedicated the prisoner to the Taimiao, and in these eight days, his illness has also been recuperated.

It's just that his health is a little better, and Zhu Youxiao, who smuggled out of the palace, walked around the Qi Palace, listening to Zhu Youxiao talk about his "great achievements".

Look at! This is the "country" that my brother laid for you.

What is this like......

Zhu Youzhen sat helplessly on the handmade wooden wheelchair, although he was already able to walk around on his own, and even run and jump, Zhu Youxiao still spent a few days building a wheelchair for him.

At this moment, Sun Shoufa was pushing a wheelchair, he was sitting in a wheelchair, and Zhu Youxiao was in front like a tour guide, enthusiastically introducing him to the grass and trees of the Qi Palace.

It's just this, Zhu Youzhen has heard it no less than three times.

"Brother, let's stop and rest."

Zhu Youzhen showed a trace of helplessness, and Zhu Youxiao also turned his head to look at him when he heard this, and said with concern:

"What's wrong? Is it uncomfortable again? Blame me for not taking you out to blow the wind. ”

"It's not ......" Looking at Zhu Youxiao, who was blaming himself, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but laugh and said:

"It's just that my brother has told me three times about these things, and I've memorized them like a stream, so it's better to talk about state affairs."

"State Affairs ......" Hearing Zhu Youzhen say this, Zhu Youxiao paused.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen was also very helpless.

From the beginning of his illness, Zhu Youxiao asked Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen to stop all the performances of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and the City Commandery.

It was also by stopping these things that Zhu Youjian was able to recover from his illness within seven days.

"Twelve hours a day, my brother handles government affairs for seven hours a day, don't you feel too tired? If you are not feeling well at the moment, you should rest more. ”

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhu Youzhen with a worried face, but for his answer, Zhu Youzhen said helplessly:

"I don't deal with seven hours in one go, really, I only have two or three hours to deal with the sparseness, and the rest of the time I take a lunch break or eat and practice archery."

"That's not good, after the sect meeting ends tomorrow, I don't object to my younger brother wanting to see the song and the military report, but not today, I have to rest today." Zhu Youxiao said stubbornly.

His brows were furrowed very tightly, and he looked a little angry, so Zhu Youzhen couldn't continue to respond to him, and finally could only end the topic with a long sigh.

However, the appearance of this topic allowed Zhu Youzhen to talk about it and other topics.

"Even if you don't deal with military reports and songs, it's always okay to talk about sweeping the north and overseas vassals."

Zhu Youzhen looked resentful, and Zhu Youxiao also bowed slightly after hesitating, saying that he could say it.

"Okay......" Taking a deep breath, Zhu You checked the thoughts in his mind these days, and then slowly spoke: "Let's talk about sweeping the north first......

"Sweeping the north is inevitable!" Zhu Youzhen's eyes were like torches, and he admitted the national policy that he must sweep the north, and then said:

"How do you sweep the north? When to sweep? Who is the target of Sweeping North? These have to be said. ”

"I've already talked to Sun Yingyuan and Man Gui about these things in private."

"Obey the law and push me to the Kyushu Palace."

The previous sentence was said by Zhu Youzhen to Zhu Youxiao, and the last sentence was said to Sun Shoufa.

When Sun Shoufa heard this, he glanced at Zhu Youxiao, and after seeing that the emperor agreed, he pushed Zhu Youzhen to the Kyushu Palace.

The Kyushu Palace is said to be a palace, but it is actually a "Hui" shaped palace group in the outer court of the Qi Palace.

There are 36 halls in the palace room, each hall is two zhang high, but the length and width are different, and the only thing that is the same is that the structure is boxy.

After all, the Qi Palace's Mansion has the qualifications to open the palace and the six departments, so many military generals actually come to the Kyushu Palace to deal with government affairs.

So when Zhu Youxiao and the others appeared here, many generals saluted one after another, and Zhu Youxiao also waved his hand and said:

"No need to be polite, just flat."

"Call Man Gui, Sun Yingyuan, Cao Meng, and Saihan to Hanhai Palace." Zhu Youzhen also commanded.

There are seventy-two small halls in the Kyushu Palace, and each hall is placed according to geography and province, and its own corresponding sand table is placed.

Hanhai Hall is a palace that places the vast geographical sand table north of the Ming Dynasty.

When Sun Shoufa pushed Zhu Youzhen to this palace, Man Gui and the others, who were in good health, had already arrived here.

In this Hanhai Palace, which is enough to accommodate more than two hundred people, there are only seven of them, but it seems a little empty.

However, Zhu Youzhen also knew that if too many people were called, I was afraid that his brother would be reluctant again.

"Long live, Your Highness......"

Man Gui and the others saluted, while Saihan and Cao Meng were quick and brought a chair and a small tea table.

"Let's be flat." Zhu Youxiao sat down with peace of mind and looked at Zhu Youjian.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen got up cautiously, and then walked to the Hanhai sand table in the hall, which was three feet long and wide, and took the familiar Huanghuali baton handed over from Man Gui.

"This time I came to discuss the matter of sweeping the north."

Zhu Youzhen carried his hands on his back, looked down at the sand table, looked at the pattern full of flags from all sides, and asked:

"Where are the Monan and Mobei tribes now?"

"After returning to His Royal Highness, Bo Huang rebelled, he and Hutudun went to the southern foot of Harawen Mountain, and now he and Hutudun are grazing under Harawen Mountain, and the three major Khans of Mobei returned to Mobei after the last meeting."

"Huang Taiji's gang returned to Jianluwei with cattle and sheep, and Oba, the leader of the Horqin Tribe, also returned to his tribe."

Sun Yingyuan, as the governor of the Eastern Army, told all the situation, while Zhu Youzhen had a general understanding of the distance between the Ministries and the Ming Dynasty.

If the troops were sent from Beizhili, that is to say, from Baima Pass, the closest to them would be the two major tribes of Chahar and Karaqin at the southern foot of the Harawen Mountain.

In terms of distance, the two were close to a thousand li away from Baima Pass, and the Ming army would need to cross the Yanshan Mountains for six hundred li and then cross the plain for more than three hundred li to reach their grazing land.

After them, the Horqin Department was about 1,500 miles away from Baima Pass.

The last three major departments of Mobei are stationed in three places: Wolf Juxu Mountain, Helin, and Hangai Mountain.

If the troops were sent from Beizhili and Shanxi, and along the water source, the Ming army would have to march at least 3,200 li, 2,400 li, and 2,800 li respectively.

It looks far away, but the total strength of these three divisions ranges from 30,000 to 60,000, and most of them are unarmored rangers.

As long as the supply of the four cavalry guards was guaranteed, Zhu Youzhen could pursue and drive them northward with 10,000 troops per part.

The consumption of the four cavalry guards, the battle of Hetao, Zhu Youzhen's calculations are clear.

Three people and three horses, one person and one horse camel to carry the rations of one soldier and horses, and the other two people and two horses to carry the rations of three of them and three horses, such logistics can roughly ensure a straight-line combat distance of 400 miles.

In other words, if the Ming army wanted to organize 10,000 Shangzhi cavalry to go to the farthest 3,200 miles away and take the initiative to attack the Wolf Juxu Mountain, it would need at least 240,000 horses to ensure their logistics.

It seems like a lot, but for Beizhili and Shanxi, which have a population of tens of millions, this is not a lot.

Moreover, if the Mongols who accompanied the army helped to graze the cattle and sheep to drive the captured cattle and sheep north, then this consumption could continue to be reduced.

"Saihan, if you follow the principle of transporting supplies with auxiliary troops and horses while being nomadic, how many auxiliary soldiers and horses do you think it will take for 10,000 iron cavalry to reach Wolf Juxu Mountain?"

Zhu Youzhen handed over the logistics problem to Saihan, and handing over such an important matter to him was undoubtedly the greatest trust in him.

In this regard, Saihan was excited, and hurriedly said:

"Your Highness, the last general has learned about the speed of our army's logistics, if you first go north to fight Harawen Mountain, and then graze north along Harawen Mountain, and go to Wolf Juxu Mountain by Yinma River, then it will only take about 120,000 auxiliary soldiers and 100,000 horses."

"As long as you are paired with two thousand skilled Mongolian auxiliaries, you can easily graze hundreds of thousands of sheep and support the army to reach the Wolf Juxu Mountain."

"But the premise is that we must first take one of the two tribes of Chahar and Karaqin at the southern foot of the Haravin Mountain, otherwise the other small tribes will not have so many cattle and sheep for us to capture."

As soon as Saihan, who was familiar with the south and north of the desert, spoke, Zhu Youzhen probably knew the approximate consumption of attacking the other two parts.

Maintaining 30,000 cavalry to destroy the three major divisions of Mobei probably requires about 300,000 auxiliaries, 300,000 horses, and more than 6,000 Mongolian auxiliaries.

It sounds like a lot, and it is very impossible, but for Zhu Youzhen, who has just encircled and suppressed the three major departments of the Hetao, 300,000 horses are not out of order.

What's more, attacking this group of guys, the number of horses pulled by the Ming army will only increase.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen pointed to the Horqin Department and said:

"If I want to gather 30,000 iron cavalry, first attack the Tiger Rabbit Dun and Bo Huang in Harawen Mountain, and then go to Horqin to attack Oba, and then attack the three major divisions along the Yinma River, how many auxiliaries and horses will be needed?"

"This ......" Saihan hesitated for a moment, his mind was rapidly calculating, and in the end, he didn't calculate it very clearly, so he could only calculate an approximation.

"If you take this route, you will have to march at least more than 4,000 miles, and to ensure the supply line of such a long route, I am afraid that you will need to maintain 300,000 horses and 500,000 people......

30,000 cavalry, 300,000 horses, and 500,000 men to support logistics, sounds incredible, but in fact it is about the same.

In the first battle of the Tang Dynasty to destroy the Eastern Turks in the third year of Zhenguan, the Tang army's six routes of soldiers and horses together totaled 100,000 horses, and the distance of the attack was only 1,000 miles, so that hundreds of thousands of people were dispatched from Shanxi and Hebei.

At present, the 30,000 iron cavalry of the Ming army are going to run for 4,000 miles, and it is not surprising that 500,000 people and 300,000 horses are dispatched.

"Your Highness, if you want to take this route, you have to guard against whether our baggage line will be attacked by Jianyu."

"At least 20,000 horse infantry must be mobilized to protect the baggage line, and then send troops from Liaodong to feint and contain the main force of Jianyu."

Sun Yingyuan opened his mouth cautiously, and his words made Zhu Youzhen bow slightly, but in this way, the logistical pressure on the Ming army was even greater.

"It seems that it is impossible to sweep the north in one go."

Zhu Youzhen's remark basically means that this line and strategic goal have been abandoned by him.

He looked at the map, and then said: "Dealing with Chahar, Karaqin, and Horqin in one go, the three major departments of Mobei are indeed a little difficult. ”

"The three major divisions of Mobei will be put on hold for the time being, and troops will be sent to drive away Chahar and Karaqin first, and then Horqin will be destroyed."

"Huh?" Hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, everyone felt that Zhu Youzhen was wrong.

According to Bo Huang's backstabbing and rebellion, shouldn't he go all out to destroy Karaqin?

In response to their doubts, Zhu Youjian said calmly:

"Bo Huang and Hu Tu Dun are just dry bones in the mound for warmth, first destroy Horqin, then recuperate for a year or two, and then attack from the west and south to destroy Jianyu."

"Wait a minute."

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao couldn't sit still, Zhu Youzhen's words, basically all the generals had already decided on one thing, and he was not sure yet, so he said after doubting:

"My brother means to build a city in the Haravan Mountain, that is, the Horqin Pastoral Land?"

As soon as Zhu Youxiao spoke, Zhu Youzhen nodded slightly:

"Recovering the vast Nenkorqin grassland east of the Haravin Mountains, and then building a city, can not only open up a horse grazing ground for my Ming Dynasty, but also station a large number of soldiers and horses later."

"At that time, the south will move from Liaodong to the north, and the west will rely on the garrison of Haravan Mountain to block the escape of the Jianlu, and finally completely wipe them out in the land of Nurgan."

"In addition, at the southern foot of the Haravin Mountains, that is, the places where the Hutudun and Bo Tu gangsters are stationed, several cities can also be built, relying on the rivers after the snow melts in the Haravin Mountains for reclamation."

"Once this place is reclaimed, then the Jingshi, Beizhili, and Shanxi will be completely surrounded, and there will be no difficulty in being knocked by Hulu."

"Although the reason is good, but if you sweep the set first, and then move the people to govern such a large area, can the money and food keep up?" Zhu Youxiao was skeptical.

However, in this regard, Saihan said as a living map:

"There are a lot of cultivated land cultivated by the Han people who fled north in Horqin, although the amount is not much, there are 10,000 or 20,000 mu."

"These 20,000 mu are enough to maintain the lives of seven or eight thousand people, and if the captured cattle and sheep are brought to the local area for reclamation, plus the people who have relocated subsequently, I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of mu can be reclaimed in a year."

Saihan is not boasting, there is no doubt about the fertility of the Horqin grassland, even if the precipitation line of the Ming Dynasty moved eastward and crossed the Harawen Mountain (Great Khing'an Mountains), but the eastern and southern areas of the Horqin grassland are still on the 400ml precipitation line.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di made many northern expeditions, all of which were established after ruling the three guards of Duoyan, and then they set out from this place.

Later, Duoyan Sanwei's rebellion was actually based on the lack of population in the north in the early Ming Dynasty, and not so many people migrated to this place to change the ethnic ratio.

But it was the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and now it is the end of the Ming Dynasty, and Saihan listened to Zhu Youzhen along the way when he said that the population in the north was crowded and the people were going to move to Nuergan and Horqin, so he naturally knew what Zhu Youzhen thought.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the population in the north was insufficient, and there was no way to control the basic plate that had been laid, which was the same as Tang Gaozong's territory of more than 12 million square kilometers, but it quickly fell apart.

But the problem is that the northern provinces are now densely populated, and as long as the imperial court has food and is willing to distribute cattle and seeds, it can be said that it is easy to move hundreds of thousands of people to this place.

Zhu Youxiao's worry is not so much that he is worried about the lack of money and food, but that he is worried that this place will be the same as Annan back then, and it will take decades of continuous investment to settle down.

But Saihan's words basically calmed Zhu Youxiao's heart.

"Long live, there are only more than 100,000 people in the Horqin army, and there are only more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, and there are no more than 10,000 elite ones, and they are not the opponents of the upper ranks at all."

"The minister dares to guarantee that as long as Banzai and His Highness order, 10,000 straight iron cavalry will be enough to sweep Horqin."

Saihan's words made Zhu Youxiao breathe a sigh of relief, and Zhu Youzhen also said when he saw this:

"If there are enough people, this place in Horqin can become the North Warehouse, and it can also become the largest horse grazing land in the Ming Dynasty."

"This ...... Then brother, you call the shots. Hearing Saihan and Zhu Youzhen's words of singing and harmonizing, Zhu Youxiao also agreed.

Seeing that he agreed, Zhu Youzhen also asked Saihan: "You have been to Horqin, where do you think it is better to cultivate land compared to Liaobei?" ”

"Naturally, it's the north and south of Horqin!" Saihan said without thinking:

"The meadows in northern Liaobei are thick, while the meadows in the north and south of Horqin are thin, and the reason why the Horqin Department has not developed is because they have too few Han people who have fled from the north and there is not enough food to eat."

"Good!" Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen looked at the vast Horqin grassland, and then said:

"I ordered Shanxi and Henan to transfer grain to northern Shaanxi to appease the victims, and all the military grain in Beizhili was sent to Baima Pass."

"Then transfer the silver taels from Huangdian to Sichuan, and buy grain from Sichuan and send it to Liaodong by sea."

"Before the beginning of spring, all the grain must be in place, and the army is divided into two groups, Liaodong is the auxiliary army, and Baimaguan is the main army."

"The White Horse Pass is equipped with four cavalry guards, as well as Shen Cewei and Jin Wuwei, and Teng Xiang Wei and Wu Xiang Wei eight guards are guarded."

As soon as Zhu Youzhen spoke, everyone's hearts tightened instantly.

The battle of the four cavalry guards and the foot guards has not been fought by the Ming army so far.

Looking at the posture, his Royal Highness was obviously preparing to carry out a Northern Expedition of the Three Associations, or transfer four infantry guards to garrison the Haravan Mountain and the Horqin Grassland.

However, Man Gui and Sun Yingyuan thought about it, according to what His Royal Highness said, for the Tiger Rabbit Dun and Bo Huang Gangster, it was mainly for the strategic purpose of driving away, so the army should be the Northern Expedition of the Three Associations at the beginning.

As for driving them away, I'm afraid it will be the iron cavalry charge and raid Horqin.

"Liaodong Department, by Liaodong Jinglu Xiong Tingbi as the main general, Sun Yingyuan, you as the deputy general, as for the number of troops, you can do it yourself."

Zhu Youzhen still uses the style of fighting with literature and martial arts, this is not that he is suppressing the generals, but Sun Yingyuan They still need time to grow.

What's more, the identities of Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chuanting, and Hong Chengchou are actually quite embarrassing.

They are obviously civil ministers, but Zhu Youzhen did not intervene in the political arena for the time being, so they could not be transferred back to the capital to take up important official positions.

But if they are put in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, then the use of civil and military means that they have made a start, and I am afraid that some civilian officials will use this as an excuse in the future.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen is ready to let them continue to do business strategies outside, and when they have a place in the capital, they will be transferred back one by one according to their age.

At present, Xiong Tingbi is fifty-seven years old, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting are also thirty-two years old, Yang Wenyue is thirty years old, and Wu Aheng is thirty-one years old.

These five people are all key personnel who can be transferred back to the capital by Zhu Youzhen and serve as Beijing officials.

In addition to them, Lu Xiangsheng, Dong Yingju, and Shen Tingyang can also be transferred back to the capital, but the old port and the city are inseparable from Shen Tingyang, and Lu Xiangsheng and Zhu Youzhen are ready to let him continue to train for a few years, after all, he is only twenty-five years old.

In the end, Dong Yingju, who managed his finances very well......

"Stand down first......"

"Yes......"

Zhu Youzhen opened his mouth suddenly, and Man Gui and the others also withdrew from the Hanhai Hall one after another.

"Brother, I want to transfer some people back to the capital to hire."

After thinking about it, Zhu Youzhen decided that he could start preparing for the reform of the official system.

"Transfer? Who is my brother going to transfer? Zhu Youxiao was stunned, and found that his younger brother's temperament was a little jumpy, one second he was still talking about sweeping the north, and the next second he actually said that he was going to transfer people.

"Li Changgeng, the secretary of the Nanjing household department, as well as Dong Yingju, Wu Aheng, Yang Wenyue, Sun Yuanhua, and Bi Maokang."

Zhu Youzhen opened his mouth and said the person in his mind who could be reused, and Zhu Youxiao was stunned when he heard this, and then regained his composure and said:

"What, you're ready to do what you've always wanted to do?"

"Not really, but you can arrange it a little......" A smile hung on the corner of Zhu Youzhen's mouth.

"How are you going to set it up?" Zhu Youxiao asked, and Zhu Youzhen also talked eloquently:

"Bi Ziyan served as the secretary of the household department, Wu Aheng served as the right attendant of the ministry, and Yang Wenyue served as the left attendant of the military department."

"In addition, the salt class and the tea class will be managed in a unified manner, and the salt class department and the tea class department will be set up."

"The two divisions are only responsible for managing the salt farm, and at the same time handing over the salt and tea to the emperor to operate."

"In the past, salt and tea were abolished!"

As soon as Zhu Youzhen opened his mouth, it was shocking, if the salt introduction and the tea introduction were abolished, according to Zhu Youzhen's idea, then these two huge livelihood markets would be completely transformed from private to government-run.

There is no doubt about the consumption of salt tea by the people of the Ming Dynasty, hundreds of millions of catties of salt are consumed every year, and tea is millions of catties.

At present, the scale of the Maritime Inspection Division is gradually expanding, and although illegal salt cannot be completely eliminated, it is absolutely impossible to disrupt the market as before.

Coupled with the fact that the cheap salt of Huangdian is constantly hitting the traditional market, the market of other salt merchants has been crumbling.

If it weren't for Zhu Youzhen's reorganization of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and the stationing of troops and horses in various provinces, I am afraid that some people would have taken advantage of the loopholes long ago.

The inaction of the salt merchants and tea merchants also made Zhu Youzhen think about other things.

Salt and tea must be run by the government, which is the key to whether the Ming Dynasty can survive the drought.

Therefore, when Zhu Youxiao was still deposing the salt introduction and the tea introduction because he wanted to dethrone it, he continued:

"I am going to let Dong Yingju take charge of the Tea Division, and Li Changgeng will be in charge of the Salt Division, and after abolishing the salt introduction and tea introduction, I will declare salt tea as an official camp of the imperial court, which can only be bought in the imperial store!"

"Of the more than 40,000 students who graduated from Yanshan, except for a few, most of the rest will join the Salt Division and the Tea Division."

"Once they enter the two divisions, with the assistance of the provincial Gongwei battalion and the maritime inspection department, as long as they control the salt and tea fields, and then prohibit illicit tea and illegal salt, the Ming Dynasty will be able to make a profit of more than seven million taels just for these two items!"

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were like torches, he knew very well what the seven million taels represented, once this silver could be squeezed out, the military salary of more than 400,000 troops could be solved.

In other words, if these seven million taels of silver are directly exchanged for grain, it will be nearly 20 million stone of grain.

Except for the three years from 1640 to 1643, the entire Ming Dynasty was under disasters, and in the rest of the years, the Ming Dynasty could use this silver to buy grain.

Nearly 20 million stone of grain, whether used as wages or directly used to relieve the victims.

In the case of simply ensuring people's lives, this grain can save five or six million people.

And this is only Zhu Youzhen's lowest estimate of the income of the two divisions......

Because there are more, they are all sent out after stepping on the dots and writing.

This leads to a personal check for typos not carefully enough, and the typos that everyone raises, I will make corrections if they can be corrected, I'm sorry.

(End of chapter)