[The construction of the three halls of the Ministry of Labor started from February 23 in the fifth year of the Apocalypse to the second day of the eighth month of the seventh year, and the total amount of money and grain was reported to be 7,788,135,28 yuan and 3 cents and 8 cents, and all the projects were completed]

[Tianjin received 260 ships from Nanzhili to help boats, carrying 311,273 stones and seven buckets of grain, all of which were put into the warehouse]

On June 29, when Zhu Youxiao of the Heart Cultivation Hall looked at the music in his hand, he nodded with great satisfaction and looked up at Gu Bingqian in front of him.

"King Qi's arrangement is good, so that the grain price of Beizhili can be stabilized, right?"

Zhu Youxiao put down the recital, and Gu Bingqian also said: "I can probably last until the autumn harvest." ”

"What about Shanxi and Shaanxi?" Zhu Youxiao asked, and Gu Bingqian responded in an orderly manner:

"Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces have already taken land and water routes to transfer grain from Sichuan, Huguang, and Jiangxi."

"By July 15 at the latest, about 6 million stones of rice and wheat will enter Shaanxi, and about 4.27 million stones will enter Shanxi rice and wheat."

"It has been 10 days since the team arrived in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, and has preliminarily surveyed 342 villages and 29 villages that are not suitable for digging wells, and more than 19,600 people will all walk to Luoyang, and then go south by boat."

"The victims will rest for two months at the North Port of Ryukyu Province, and then move on to Annam, where they will arrive in Annam around the end of the month."

"Dongyue sends troops, will Layue be able to defeat the Zheng lord in the north of Jiaozhi?" Zhu Youxiao frowned and asked.

Although in his opinion, the strength of the Zheng and Mo masters and the Wu clan in the north and south of Anbei is insufficient, but at least they can pull out tens of thousands of people.

Jinyi Weibei Zhenfu Si's report to Annan, Zhu Youxiao carefully read that the population controlled by the Zheng lord in the north was three times that of the Ruan lord in the south.

In the north of Lord Zheng, there was another Mo clan who divided Gaoping, and Wu Degong and Wu Gongpi, the protectors of Xuanguang Town.

The Truong ruler ruled over a population of about 1.5 million, and the Nguyen lord ruled over a population of about 600,000.

Mo and Wu each controlled a population of about 100,000, while the Cham kingdom further south of the Nguyen lords had a population of about 100,000.

There are about 100,000 ethnic minorities in the plateau who are not ruled by these forces, about 100,000 in the coastal areas of the Mekong River, and about 100,000 in the border Tusi in the mountainous areas of Lao Cai Laizhou and other places in the north.

In other words, the tiny Annan and Cham have a population of about 2.6 million, and if they are judged by the standard of absolute exhaustion, they can directly pull out at least 260,000 troops.

However, according to Jinyiwei's investigation, in the war between these forces, the number of Zheng Zheng's Imperial Forest Army plus Minzhuang was less than 60,000, the remaining troops were about 40,000, and there were 500 elephants and 500 ships with a tonnage of less than 1,000.

The lord of Nguyen in the south dispatched about 40,000 troops, 100 elephants, and more than 200 warships.

As for the Mo clan and the Wu clan, each has less than 10,000 troops, and the Cham Shaomin and Tusi also range from 1 to 20,000.

In other words, the entire Annan can pull out 150,000 or 60,000 soldiers and horses similar to those of the guards during the Wanli period.

Although Hong Chengchou showed his prominence in the encirclement and suppression of extravagant Chongming, the battle of recovering Liao, and the rebellion in Pingsha and Dingzhou, it was not Zhu Youzhen who personally led the troops, and Zhu Youxiao still had a little distrust.

Maybe it's a suspicion that he has relied on Zhu Youzhen for many years in side affairs, but if it's not Zhu Youzhen leading the troops, he is always a little worried.

Regarding his worries, Gu Bingqian also chuckled and bowed down:

"His Royal Highness King Qi said that he believes in Hong Jingluo very much, and there should be no major problems......

"Hmm......" Zhu Youxiao heard his younger brother say this, and he also criticized the red on the song, and then said:

"Step aside"

"The minister retires......" Gu Bingqian retreated, but when he walked to the gate of the Qianqing Palace, Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian walked towards him and looked at him.

The two sides saluted each other, but Wei Zhongxian's face was very ugly.

Wei Zhongxian and Wang An, on the surface, it seems that the two sides fell into a strange state of calm after Zhu Youzhen returned.

It's just that this is not the case in fact, the intrigue between the two began to surround Zhu Youxiao's side, which is why Zhu Youxiao didn't care about the handling of the performance and handed it over to Zhu Youzhen to deal with.

The current court seems to be chaotic, but in fact it is still a three-kingdom struggle for hegemony.

The powerful Cao Wei was the rising Qi royal party, which controlled the finances and the army of the court, and basically only dealt with the transfer of officials once a year.

The eunuchs were secondary, a bit like Ji Han, who controlled the transfer and promotion of officials in the court, as well as the issue of local rule.

The last Donglin Party was Sun Wu, who was trying to seek stability, and could only rely on Zhu Youxiao's trust in Wang An and hide in the corner to survive.

The reason why there was no trouble in the court was that Wei Zhongxian and Wang An both knew that when the matter reached the court, it was very likely to cause Zhu Youzhen's dissatisfaction.

Zhu Youzhen's strength is getting stronger and stronger, and the Qi Wang Party is getting bigger and bigger.

This can be seen from the fact that there is a problem of corruption within the Imperial Horse Supervisor and Yanshan students.

Only if there is enough power will someone ask for help from those in it, which will breed corruption.

Zhu Youzhen didn't have the heart to clean up the eunuch party and the Donglin party, because now he is busy with the disaster relief in the three provinces and doesn't want to make extraneous branches.

The drought in the three provinces made him postpone even the matter of cleaning up the prisoners, which shows how much Zhu Youzhen cares about and pays attention to the matter of the drought.

The peace above the temple is based on the calm under the brows of Zhu Youzhen that no one wants to touch, but there is no such calm in the inner court.

Just as right now, after Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian walked into the Heart Cultivation Palace, although the two did not speak, they walked to the corner and stood, looking at Liu Ruoyu and Wang An who were standing opposite the corner.

The four of them were full of gunpowder, and Zhu Youxiao, who had passed through the Qi Palace, could also feel this strange atmosphere.

It's just that in the face of such an atmosphere, he didn't care, but continued to read the notes as if no one was around, until he had finished reading all the notes, and then he said:

"Wang An, you send the music to the cabinet, I have seen all these songs, and there is no problem."

"The slave and maid take the order...... Wang An was overjoyed and began to step forward to clean up the dragon eucalyptus.

Zhu Youxiao's first call was particularly important, which showed the problem of intimacy, and when he summoned Wang An, Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian suddenly felt a sigh in their hearts.

The two of them were not happy or surprised on the surface, but they were gloomy in their hearts.

After watching Wang An walk out with the song, Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian didn't think of anything else, so Zhu Youxiao said:

"Zhongxian, the construction of the three major halls has ended, how much grain is left in this inner money?"

Zhu Youxiao called out Wei Zhongxian's name, which made Wei Zhongxian ecstatic, and hurriedly replied:

"There are still more than 954,300 taels of silver......

"Hmm......" Hearing the amount of silver, Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, and then said:

"Now that the land of the south of the desert has been cleared, my brother once said that the northern Yanshan is refreshing and cool, and I am going to build a palace in the Yanshan to escape the summer, what do you think?"

"Banzai wants to build a palace, naturally you can, but I don't know what the scale is?" Wei Zhongxian responded with a smile on his face.

"It doesn't have to be too big, it's mainly for safaris, and it's safe." Zhu Youxiao subconsciously spoke, and Wei Zhongxian also said:

"Long live rest assured, this matter will be handed over to the slave maid."

"Hmm...... You can just let the people below do it, I will draw the drawings of the palace for them, and you will continue to stay in the inner court, without you, I am a little unaccustomed. ”

Zhu Youxiao's words made Wei Zhongxian's heart flutter a little, and on the surface, he was flattered and returned the salute.

It was only after returning the salute that he spoke:

"Long live, the recent drought in the northwest, according to the practice of previous years, Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain must be invited to come to the capital, this year ......"

Before Wei Zhongxian finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao raised his hand and interrupted:

"My brother told me about this, what he meant was not to create a strange feeling of chaos among the people, lest the White Lotus Sect make a comeback."

"Yes......" Seeing that there was no chance, Wei Zhongxian also closed his mouth.

"All right, go down." As soon as Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, he signaled that he was going to take a lunch break, and Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian also retreated one after another.

After that, several palace maids walked in and began to rub Zhu Youxiao's shoulders and legs, so that he slowly fell asleep.

It's just that he slept soundly, but he didn't want some of his actions to make Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian worried.

Walking in the inner court, Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian walked to the Hakka palace and put down the shelves when they arrived at the palace.

The Hakka who was sitting in the main seat looked at the two of them, frowned and said, "Why do you look wronged?" ”

"Long live the old man who has been close to Wang Ana recently, can I not look wronged?" Wei Zhongxian was angry, and the Hakka family also frowned when he heard this:

"I also persuaded Banzai about this, but Banzai said that Wang An did a good job in Nanchang, and it was normal to be transferred back, and besides, he missed Wang An a little."

"In my opinion, when the longing for long life has passed, Wang An will soon return to the south field."

"If only that were the case." Wang Tiqian, who was sitting on the side, said with a dark face:

"Do you really think that long live is missing Wang An? And not against us? ”

"Deal with us?!" Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi sharpened their throats, obviously startled.

Wang Tiqian glanced at them, and then slowly spoke:

"There are too many officials below Cui Chengxiu, and Banzai is not a mediocre master, how can he not be vigilant?"

"There are Jinyi Guards, even if Cui Yingyuan is on our side, but as long as Li Ruolian thinks, can you not know that Cui Chengxiu is standing behind us?"

"In my opinion, Banzai is promoting Wang An, once to disperse our power, and to beat us in disguise."

"If Banzai is the case, what can we do?" Wei Zhongxian frowned, and the Hakka family also dodged his eyes.

Only Wang Tiqian heard what he said and said directly:

"There is no chance to drive Wang An away at the moment, but as long as King Qi goes out again, this opportunity will come."

"King Qi goes on an expedition ......" Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka clan looked at each other......

——————

"Medium!"

Smack-

In the back yard of the Qi Palace, when a milk breath opened, the sound of the arrow missing the arrow target sounded in the next second, and on the school field, Zhu Youzhen, who was wearing a white round-necked robe, handed the bow and arrow in his hand to Lu Wenzhao.

Yang Yuanai, who was standing behind him, immediately stepped forward to wipe his sweat, and Yang Ru used a fan to fan next to him.

In the capital in June, the heat makes people want to lie in the ice room and are reluctant to come out.

"This year's summer is hotter than usual, and I am afraid that under the heat, the drought will be worse in many places."

Zhu Youzhen turned around and walked to the shade, and Lu Wenzhao and the others also followed him to the canopy umbrella.

Zhu Youzhen sat on the recliner, and Lu Wenzhao also sat on the stool next to him, and said to Zhu Youzhen:

"According to the news of Nanzhen Fusi, since the beginning of summer, the eastern part of Hexi and the eastern part of Sichuan have been in great drought, and there is no rain in the summer, the grass and trees are scorched, and the fields are dry and cracked, roughly speaking, the yield will be reduced by at least 5 million mu......

Lu Wenzhao's words made the atmosphere around him even heavier, and as Yang Yuanai and Yang Ruyi, who had been starving, both of them were a little unnatural.

Huaibei hunger, that is the memory engraved in their bones, how miserable it was at that time, Yang Ru may not remember it very clearly, but Yang Yuanai, who was already sensible at that time, remembered it clearly.

"Are there any signs of a locust plague? How is the relief work of the household department? ”

Zhu Youzhen opened the delicate copper furnace on the side, and what appeared in it was the crisp mountain that had just been taken out of the ice room of the palace.

After taking a bite, the cold taste made the heat in Zhu Youjian's body disappear.

"There is no sign of the locust plague for the time being, and the silver taels of the household department in the form of work relief have just arrived in the yamen of various counties, starting from Lintao Mansion, and the nine prefectures along the north and south of the Yellow River have all issued a recruitment to sort out the Yellow River."

"Xu Guangqi is in charge of the task of combing the Yellow River in Jiufu, and the household department estimates that about 800,000 people will participate."

There are nearly 3 million people in Jiufu, and 800,000 people participated, which is roughly 800,000 men.

However, he was not particularly satisfied with this scale for Zhu Youzhen, so he said:

"From the old port to the beginning of June, how much iron-making?"

"This ...... You need someone to bring in the paperwork to know. Lu Wenzhao didn't answer for a while, and Zhu Youzhen also waved his hand and motioned for him to ask someone to get it.

Seeing this, Lu Wenzhao turned around and asked people to get it, and Zhu Youzhen continued after taking a bite of Sushan:

"You need to be vigilant about side affairs, although this summer is very hot, maybe the winter will become very cold."

"If the temperature drops sharply, the grain production inside and outside the customs will inevitably be reduced."

"There is a big drought in the Guan, and there is a big cold outside the Guan, and the three prefectures of Liaodong and Taining need to prepare enough honeycomb coal, and the price of honeycomb coal in this province and the three prefectures can be discounted and promoted."

"The slave knows." Wang Chengen responded, and Zhu Youzhen also looked at Lu Wenzhao and said:

"Send people to send military orders to Man Gui, Sun Shoufa, Sun Yingyuan, and Xiong Tingbi, and tell them to be vigilant against the repetition of the old tricks of Jianyu, and to harass our border villages with heavy troops."

"If the cold comes, many people may starve to death on the Jianyu side, and it is best to order the villages to strengthen the walls, at least to block the inferior artillery of the Jianzhuan."

"Yes......" Lu Wenzhao responded, and Zhu Youzhen was also eating Sushan, thinking about what else was missing.

After a cup of tea, Zhu Youzhen remembered Sun Chuanting's side, and then said:

"Jianyu can't be swept, but once it is swept, my pressure towards the north will drop sharply, and if you want to clear Mobei, you need to further take the Western Regions."

"After taking the Western Regions, this place will become a place where all three sides will be attacked."

"I can't wait to be flanked, so I told Sun Chuanting to let him train the soldiers and horses of the Ninth Battalion of Duogan well, and when the drought is over, he will start to send troops to Wusizang."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youzhen said a little calmly:

"With the strength and combat power of our dynasty, only nine battalions are enough to clear Wusizang."

Zhu Youzhen's words are not boasting, after all, in history, Gushi Khan only had more than 20,000 cavalry, and he managed half of Wusizang.

At present, if the Ming Dynasty wants to destroy all the forces in Wusizang and dismantle feudalism, then it is necessary to declare war with the entire Wusizang.

But even so, the nine battalions of Duogan, plus the seven battalions of plateau soldiers and horses that the Lijiang Mu clan belonged to the Western Military Governor's Mansion, a total of sixteen battalions of soldiers and horses, were enough to plow Wusizang again.

What Zhu Youzhen wants is to actually control the entire Qinghai-Tibet, and with the finances of the Ming Dynasty, if he actually controls Qinghai-Tibet and the Western Regions, it will inevitably be a money-losing transaction.

The Qing Dynasty ruled Xinjiang and transfused millions of taels of silver every year, while the Ming Dynasty and the Hezhong region that further opened up Central Asia would directly double the cost.

With the addition of Qinghai-Tibet, in the end, I am afraid that in the end, the six places of Hezhong, Western Regions, Mobei, Monan, Wusizang and Duogan, the Ming Dynasty will invest one-tenth of the imperial court's finances every year.

If you want to lower your finances, you have to find a place that is close to you and can still support people.

Combined with the landing of the feudal domains on the coast of Tianzhu, then the Ming army defeated Donghu, and then incorporated the north of the Ganges River into the territory directly under the Ming Dynasty, which could complete the two bread clamps on the feudal domains.

At that time, it will not only be possible to move the population of the plateau to the real side of the north bank of the Ganges River, but also to reduce the plateau garrison.

The only problem is that if this is to be done, then a post road from northern Tianzhu over the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to Sichuan will need to be built.

Alternatively, a road from the north bank of the Ganges River can be built all the way east through Myanmar to Yunnan.

If you really want to calculate it, it seems that the second difficulty is simpler.

In short, the background of the era is placed here, the plateau or something, it is enough to leave a small population in the river valley, and then maintain a small number of troops.

Establishing rule in the plains with extremely low costs is what the Ming want to do.

As long as the plains north of the Ganges River are taken, Daming can add hundreds of millions of acres of cultivated land, and it will not be a problem to raise the Western Regions, Qinghai-Tibet, and Hezhong regions.

However, if you want to completely take these places and achieve actual control, you still have to rely on steam locomotives and steam engine ships.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen remembered the Armaments Institute, which has been researching the steam engine for nearly two years, but the power and function of the steam engine still achieve the purpose of pumping water.

If it can only pump water, then it is decided that this thing can only be used in the mines.

Zhu Youzhen did not feel sorry for this, after all, before Watt improved the steam engine, the steam engine could indeed only be used to pump water in the mining area.

It was Watt who made a series of inventions that increased the efficiency of the steam engine to more than three times that of the original steam engine, and finally allowed the steam engine to act on industry.

However, at this time, the steam engine could only appear in the textile, mining, military industry and other industries, until someone improved it to a high-pressure model, and then it was used on ships and locomotives.

From the invention of the steam engine to its effect on locomotives, it took a full hundred and fifty years in the West, and it is really an exaggeration for the Ming Dynasty to get it out in just two years.

Not to mention that Zhu Youzhen is just a liberal arts student, even if Zhu Youzhen is a national treasure-level industrial talent, he needs to cultivate a lot of talents to solve it.

For example, a simple grenade contains not only gunpowder, but also iron smelting technology and metallurgical technology.

Any failure to meet the standards of any technology will ruin an invention.

Zhu Youzhen can make some suggestions, but let him do it himself, it is better for him to provide his own ideas, and then drag his brother to the armament institute.

Thinking of the matter of the Armament Institute, Zhu Youzhen had a headache, and finally said:

"In addition to gunpowder, if my brother wants to know about other things in the armament yard, he can have people backup and send them to the inner court."

"Yes......" Lu Wenzhao responded, and at this time, the Jinyi Guard, who was arranged to pick up things in front, also trotted back to the Qi Palace.

He handed over the thick document book with both hands, and Lu Wenzhao handed it over to Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen flipped through the book at a glance and ten lines, and he remembered the things very clearly, and when it came to the mass production of the ironworks, he showed a satisfied smile.

By the time this document was sent on 19 May, the output of the ironworks in the old port had reached 217, with an annual output of more than 66.7 million catties, which was two-thirds of that of the local government-run ironworks in the Ming Dynasty.

He was very satisfied with the output of the ironworks, and he did not care about the number of natives killed and wounded in the later record.

Before 19 May, the population of the old port had reached more than 3,176,000, and the number of newly cultivated acres was 4,270,000 mu.

The cement output was as high as 3.72 million stones, enough to build the old port, and the gold and silver mines also reached an annual output of 140,000 taels of gold and 784,000 taels of silver.

In addition, the development of gem mines and coral harvesting is recorded in the books.

Zhu Youzhen flipped back, skimmed over some unimportant data, and finally flipped to the end.

The amount of customs duties in the strait, between Palembang and the Old Port, has been more than 272,000 taels in the past four months, and it can probably reach 1 million taels in a year.

That is to say, as long as the Ming Dynasty guards this place, he can obtain the tariff income of the Ming merchants who go to the small Western merchants.

Below the tariff revenue, Shen Tingyang, as the political envoy of the old Hong Kong, also wrote a comment:

"In the land of the old port, after the annual income of silver taels and the grain is all folded, it has reached more than four million taels, which is enough to be self-sufficient, and after this year, you can pay taxes to the imperial court, but the number of natives is ......."

Zhu Youzhen in the back didn't look at it, he only cared about the front paragraph.

The potential of the old port is really great, more than four million taels of discounted income, although the cash silver is only a quarter, but for the Ming Dynasty, pig iron and cement do not need to be discounted at all.

These things will be turned into physical objects to enhance the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

"Shen Tingyang did a good job, it seems that he chose him to go to the old port."

Closing the paperwork, Zhu Youzhen rarely praised it, and after the praise, his mind also changed.

He turned his head to look at Lu Wenzhao, and said without concealment: "Tell Hong Chengchou that the people of Annan are also the people of my Ming Dynasty." ”

"The land of Annam is insufficient, and after recovering Annam, the imperial court needs to move them to the old port and hand them over to Shen Tingyang for moderation."

"Humble and ......" Lu Wenzhao responded, but at this time, Li Ruolian of the Fusi Division of Beizhen took a document and hurriedly trotted into the school field of the Qi Wangfu with a smiling face.

After he saw Zhu Youzhen, he immediately stepped forward and said happily:

"Your Royal Highness, the military report of the Jiaozhi Thousand Households of the Fusi of Beizhen, Mo Jingkuan of Annan, Wu Degong, the protector of the lord, and the thirty-two Tusi of the old street are begging to surrender to me!"