"Repair the Nanjing Imperial Palace?"

On February 26, when the news of Nanjing was delivered to the capital, Zhu Youxiao, who was anxious about the government in the Yangxin Palace, became interested.

He motioned for Wei Zhongxian to read on, and Wei Zhongxian also knew that the emperor had been irritable recently, so he happily read Zhu Ciran's recital.

When Zhu Youxiao learned that most of the palaces in the Nanjing Imperial Palace had collapsed and that the Nanjing Temple had already been burned down, he couldn't help frowning slightly.

At the end of the recital, Zhu Ciran said the estimated repair cost of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry.

If there is suitable timber, then the cost of repairing the Nanjing Imperial Palace should be about 9 million taels, if not, it is estimated to be about 24 million taels.

This amount of silver is much more valuable than the three major halls of the Beijing Imperial Palace, but Zhu Ciran has some doubts about this.

He said he would return to the capital in two months and hand over drawings of damaged temples in the palace.

Reading this, Zhu Ciran's first recital to Zhu Youxiao was also read by Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian, who finished reading the recital, looked at Zhu Youxiao flatteringly.

From Zhu Youxiao's face, he could see that Zhu Youxiao was very interested in this matter, so he also said:

"Long live, this Nanjing Palace must be repaired, now the train has been opened, long live in the future may return to Nanjing from time to time, if you don't repair the palace, then where to live?"

"Hmm......" Wei Zhongxian's words were very useful, and Zhu Youxiao nodded in agreement.

However, approval is approval, but fiscal is a big problem.

"I remember that the income of the inner money is only 3.76 million taels per year, right?"

Zhu Youxiao turned his head to look at Wang An, who was standing aside, and Wang An truthfully explained when he heard this: "There should be 3.8 million taels this year." ”

"Three million eight thousand taels ......" Zhu Youxiao pondered for a few seconds, feeling that this silver was not enough.

Because Zhu Youzhen started as a royal horse supervisor, and abolished miscellaneous taxes such as gold and silver in the new policy, the income of the internal treasury was directly cut in half.

In the past, the income of Huangzhuang, Huangdian, Jinhuayin and other incomes were the bulk of the domestic income, but now the Huangzhuang fields were taken and distributed to the peasants, and although Huangdian was not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Households, it was also an independent financial department.

Therefore, in the tenth year or so of the Apocalypse, what Zhu Youzhen needed to face was to set up some royal income.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen's approach was to take out 1% of the annual profits of the imperial store, the household department, and overseas gold and silver in the tenth year of the Apocalypse to transfer the internal funds.

In addition, there is also the maintenance fee of the temple and the palace of the feudal king, which is 1,000 taels per year for the vassal king and 100 taels per year for the county king.

At that time, because the construction was still there, and the miscellaneous items had not been abolished, the total internal income could still be maintained at about 4 million taels.

In the thirteenth year of the Apocalypse, after the Jianyu was destroyed and the miscellaneous items were completely abolished, the internal income was cut in half again, and Zhu Youzhen could only merge the overseas gold and silver and imperial store income into the internal income, and increased it to 10%.

With these two revenues alone, the income of the internal fund reached three million taels, and with the issuance of the Apocalypse Tongbao, the internal fund also received 50% of the profit from the currency issuance.

The minting profit of the Great Tomorrow Qitongbao is 1%, and the number of recycled old coins and reissued is about 2,000 to 30 million taels every year.

Judging from the current annual distribution of the imperial court, the internal treasury has received more than 100,000 taels of income from here.

In addition, 10% of the stall silver in cities and towns also needs to be handed over to the internal treasury, and this income can be recorded in the account of more than 400,000 taels.

Together, the annual income of the internal money can barely reach 3.8 million taels.

It seems that the royal family has a large proportion of the imperial court's finances, but if you analyze it carefully, after the absence of gold and silver and the imperial village, and the fact that the royal family does not interfere in the management of the imperial store, the royal family basically has no interests with the peasants at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty.

The bad guys were done by the royal store and the household, and the royal family collected the money.

However, this income method is actually still relatively backward and has certain drawbacks.

For example, if the Ming Dynasty changed the currency to paper money, then when the cost of money became lower and the profit became higher, the royal family would account for the majority of the finance.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen must cultivate the trust of the Ming people in paper money before he became a vassal, and after the issuance of paper money, reduce the proportion of the royal family's profit from currency issuance.

The practice of printing a portrait on banknotes to collect portrait rights is also a practice that is not easy to be criticized by the people.

However, the dynasty has no eternity, and how many years Zhu Youzhen's set of rules can run depends on whether the kings of later generations can stick to it.

As long as one person changes the new policy and no longer gives the people arable land, or too much food causes the land to be too cheap, and the peasants revolt, then the Ming Dynasty will not escape the fate of destruction.

But after all, there is a clan system, or that sentence, after the emergence of the new system, no matter who is in charge, as long as he is not a political idiot, he will not step on the Ming royal family, because the overseas clan system represents a lot of profits.

Even if the royal family has no real power, or even the title of emperor, it will have some idle positions, until the system of suzerainty is ended, and the kings of the Ming Dynasty are revolutionized one after another, and the royal family is likely to be abandoned, but it is basically unlikely to be killed.

Zhu Youxiao knew all this, so he let his younger brother come like this.

Due to the complete separation of the treasury and the internal treasury, Zhu Youxiao was quite supportive.

It's just that when it comes to the current big project that needs to repair the Nanjing Imperial Palace, the little silver in the inner money is not enough, not to mention that the inner money is also inspected by Zhu You for 2 million taels, and it is fixed every year.

"The three guards of the imperial city, the generals of the Han Dynasty, the palaces of various places, the inner court, and the palace of the king of Qi, after these expenditures are gone, how many years can the internal government still earn every year?"

Zhu Youxiao asked Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian replied without thinking: "I have a fixed annual expenditure of about 3 million taels, and there is still a balance of 1.6 million taels in the internal treasury at present. ”

"One hundred and sixteen...... That's a little lacking, and there is only a balance of seven or eight hundred thousand taels a year. Hearing Wei Zhongxian's words, Zhu Youxiao frowned.

However, at this time, Wei Zhongxian flattered:

"Long live, this palace is not only your residence, but also the office of civil and military officials."

"The slave maid thinks that the outer court can be handed over to the six departments for repair, and the inner court can be handed over to the inner court for repair, as for how the palace is repaired and who supervises the work, this is naturally supervised by Banzai and the celebrant supervisor."

Wei Zhongxian was happy to say what he thought, of course, he didn't just want Zhu Youxiao to be happy, he was even happier that he could steal it.

Although it will be difficult to steal in front of a carpenter like Zhu Youxiao, who is familiar with the price, as long as the court is used, the price of many things can be reduced to the cost.

In this way, the profits originally eaten by the merchant could be eaten by him Wei Zhongxian.

For the project of 9 million taels, he can eat at least 500,000 or 600,000 taels alone.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian's old face was as bright as a chrysanthemum.

"It's a good idea......

Zhu Youxiao felt that what Wei Zhongxian said was very reasonable, and he also wanted to take this opportunity to give himself a holiday.

He turned his head sideways, and when he saw the more than 400 notes waiting to be processed, he couldn't help but have a headache.

In the matter of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Zhang Yandeng gave Zhu Youxiao a neglect.

At that time, Zhu Youxiao refused this good opportunity to practice his skills for three reasons.

First, at that time, the Ming Dynasty was preparing for the battle of resuming Liao, and the war in the north was indeed urgent.

Second, at that time, Zhu Youxiao was studying how to repair the three major halls of the Beijing Imperial Palace, and he was too busy to work.

Third, under the condition that the above two items need to be silver, Daming is not capable of building the Nanjing Imperial Palace, and Zhu Youxiao does not think that he can live in the Nanjing Imperial Palace in his life.

However, where would Zhu Youxiao have thought that the Armaments Institute would really make a train that could be used after six years.

With the advent of the train, not to mention the Nanjing Imperial Palace, it is a long-ago place such as Jiaozhi and the Old Port, which is almost close to Zhu Youxiao.

Zhu Youxiao originally had the intention of using the train to travel around the Ming Dynasty, especially after hearing the interesting stories of his son and younger brother traveling around the road, his mind became even more active.

Nanjing is the hub of Jiangnan, and since the Ming Dynasty wants to control Jiangnan, it must go to Jiangnan from time to time to deter the local gentry officials.

Repairing the palace is regarded as eye medicine, and when the repair of the palace is finished and Zhu Youxiao stays in the Nanjing Palace, he puts a sharp knife that may fall at any time on the head of the local gentry official.

It was precisely because this was the case after the palace was repaired that Zhu Youxiao had no doubt that someone would make a small move in Nanjing.

Since someone is making small moves, someone must be in charge.

Anyway, you have to choose someone to sit in the town, so it's better to experience the customs of Jiangnan yourself.

Thinking of the prosperity of Nanjing City and the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River, Zhu Youxiao felt a little itchy in his heart.

However, after thinking about it, he still did not rashly make an order, but sent someone to send the news to Hexi, ready to see what Zhu Youzhen's attitude was.

It was only five days, and when the time came to the first day of the third month, the news was successfully delivered to Zhu Youzhen, and at this time he was also on his way to Jiayuguan.

Jiayuguan in April, the coolness is not reduced......

The horse-drawn carriage walked on the wide and straight county road of the Hexi Corridor, and the sound of the wheels rolling pierced the silence around them.

The window of the four-wheeled carriage was opened from the inside out, and Zhu Cihong, whose face was as white as jade, poked his head out, and when he looked up slightly, he saw the clear blue sky.

With the blue sky, the floating white clouds, and the towering Qilian Snow Mountain in the south, Zhu Cihong seemed to be able to hear the camel bells of the Tang caravan nearly a thousand years ago.

In the distance, Jiayuguan, which was lying on the ground, appeared in front of them.

This "Guancheng" was not very attractive to Zhu Cihong at first, but as the mother in the carriage read the story of Huo Quai's array of Qilian, Zhu Cihong gradually became interested.

Zhu Cihong was looking at the natural scenery, because the rough and majestic scenery of the Hexi Corridor was something he had never seen before.

It's just that for Man Gui, who has been patrolling Hexi all year round, at this moment, he is constantly complaining in the carriage in front of him.

"This train is too slow to repair, after coming out of Lanzhou City, you have to take a carriage all the time, this more than 1,200 miles, if there is a train, it will only take two days."

Accustomed to the train, Man Gui complained about the "backwardness" of Hexi.

While he was sitting in the carriage complaining, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head.

On the one hand, he was laughing at the changeability of Mangui, and on the other hand, he was laughing at his imperial brother's careful thinking.

In terms of the seventeen-year bond between the two brothers, as soon as Zhu Youxiao pouted his buttocks, Zhu Youzhen knew what shit he was going to pull.

It's the same now......

After Zhu Youxiao sent the news and solutions to the Nanjing Palace, Zhu Youzhen knew that his brother didn't really care much about the Nanjing Palace.

He just wanted to go to Jiangnan, give himself a holiday in the name of repairing the palace, and call himself or his eldest nephew back to supervise the country.

For Zhu Youxiao, who has loved carpentry all his life, it is impossible to sit on the dragon chair with his ass all the year round.

However, for Zhu Youzhen, who has been tired for more than ten years, it is impossible for him to go back to prison in the country.

"Where is Brother Ran?" Zhu Youzhen closed the handwritten letter sent by the brocade guard in his hand, and raised his head to ask Lu Yuangao.

Lu Yuangao didn't know what he meant, and said bluntly: "According to the time, it should arrive in Yangzhou." ”

"Yangzhou, ah......" Hearing that Zhu Ciran had arrived in Yangzhou, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile.

He raised his hand and shook Zhu Youxiao's handwriting, and then said with a hint of calculation:

"Tell long live that the Western Regions are unstable, please approve me to take a rest for another month."

"In addition, after all, the Nanjing Palace is the foundation of the country, and it should be repaired, so let's do it according to the meaning of long live."

"Yes!" Hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, Lu Yuangao didn't think much about it, after all, the Western Regions were indeed unstable at this time.

As they gradually penetrated deeper into Hexi, the intelligence of the Jinyi Guards in the Western Regions continued to send back.

In mid-February, Lin Dan Khan and Kazakh, Yarkand and other countries broke out in Luntai County in the Tang Dynasty and in the area of Urumqi in later generations.

The Kazakh Sanyuz and Yarkand Khanate gathered 40,000 troops, and fought with 50,000 cavalry of Lin Dan Khan.

Such a situation was not even expected by Zhu Youzhen.

It's not that he didn't expect Lin Dan Khan to win, but he didn't expect that many forces in the Western Regions would be so weak, and it is no wonder that the Dzungar Department would unify most of the Western Regions in less than forty years after Gushi Khan went to Qinghai-Tibet.

Judging from the current situation, without the intervention of a third party, Lin Dan Khan could completely unify the Western Regions within five years, and even the Dzungar tribe that ran to the northern foot of Jinshan would be expelled.

It's just that it is Zhu Youzhen who is in power at the moment, not Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Youji.

He will not sit idly by and watch the Mongols sit large, so the necessary blows must follow.

Thinking of this, he also said to Man Gui:

"At most, in the middle of 19 years, the Jingjia Railway will be opened to traffic, and at the same time, the Beijing-Long Railway will also be able to connect the Yunlu Railway and the Kunzhan Railway."

"The materials from the four northeastern provinces and North Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Luchuan and Jiaozhi will be continuously transported to Jiayuguan."

"Right now, since Wu Sangui is about to send troops, I think I can wipe out the Rakshasas entrenched in the east of the Ice River before September."

"As long as the dynasty vigorously develops Shan Yu Province in the future, it can attack the northern captives from the northern foot of Jinshan and the southern foot of Jinshan, as well as Hami."

It will take two and a half years for Zhu Youzhen to send troops to the Western Regions and recover the Western Regions.

As long as the Western Regions are taken, even if the train is not repaired, it will be able to mine coal and transport tractors to the local area.

At that time, as long as a sufficient number of tractors are invested and operated well for another year or two, then the Ming Dynasty will be able to raise 30,000 troops with the Western Regions.

With 30,000 cavalrymen armed with rifles, they could gallop across the central part of the river (Central Asia) and the eastern and western sides of the Ural Mountains.

To this extent, Zhu Youzhen can take many people to Qi with peace of mind.

"Your Highness, if you send troops like this, won't you let go of the tiger rabbit dun?"

Man Gui carefully studied Zhu Youzhen's style of play and found that Zhu Youzhen was basically fighting from west to east and from north to south.

】

There's nothing wrong with doing that, but the problem is that by doing so, it seems to miss the West, which can escape.

Lin Dan Khan's strength was not bad, and today's Tsarist Russia has not yet undergone the reforms of Peter I.

When Lin Dan Khan entered Central Asia with 40,000 or 50,000 cavalry, or fled northwest to occupy the Siberian Plain, Tsarist Russia had no strength to stop it.

It can even be said that if Lin Dan Khan insisted on fleeing westward, the forces of Tsarist Russia would at most block Lin Dan Khan east of the Volga River.

From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen actually preferred that Lin Dan Khan lead his troops to the Transoxiana region, annex the Kazakh, Bukhara, and Khiva khanates, and cross the Volga River, annex the Crimean Khanate, and occupy the Caspian lowlands in the northern Caucasus.

Because in this way, Tsarist Russia would face a large nomadic empire, and he would have to send troops to defend in the south and southeast, thus loosening its defenses in the east.

In this way, the Ming army could directly drink the Ural Mountains, and at the same time establish a state capital in the western part of the Ural Mountains, or make it a vassal in the region.

Therefore, letting go of Lin Dan Khan is of great benefit to Zhu Youzhen.

From a certain point of view, Zhu Youzhen even wanted to send the-stirring stick from this historical Mongolian region to Europe and act as a-stirring stick of the Ming Dynasty in Europe.

"Letting go of Lin Dan Khan is good for the dynasty."

Zhu Youzhen replied, and at this time, the carriage also arrived at the gate of Jiayuguan.

Due to the experience in Qinghai County, Zhu Youzhen did not dare to let people know that he was coming, but simply notified the guards of Jiayuguan.

Therefore, when the carriage stopped and he got off, all he saw was the majestic and vast Jiayuguan, and the rest was tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in the east of Jiayuguan, as well as the Jiayuguan generals who greeted him at the gate of the city.

"See ...... at the end"

"Alright."

Seeing Zhu Youzhen and Man Gui getting out of the car, General Jiayuguan immediately stepped forward to salute, but Zhu Youzhen stopped him:

"Don't be polite, just do your own thing."

After that, Zhu Youzhen walked into Jiayuguan City, and also saw the people's livelihood environment that was similar to what Zhu Ciran saw at the beginning.

He was very satisfied, so he did not stay too long, but walked to the gate of Jiayuguan.

For Jiayuguan, Zhu Youzhen knows more than Zhu Ciran.

Jiayuguan Guancheng is Qilian Mountain on one side and Black Mountain on the other, just sandwiched between the two mountains, so it can become the northwest gateway of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The towering tower, I don't know how many soldiers have stood on the border of the country, it stands in this northwest border.

Zhu Youzhen walked up slowly, standing upstairs and looking into the distance.

At this time, the sunlight happened to pour down from the clouds and fell on the snow-capped mountains, shining silver.

To the east of Sekijo, it is full of life......

To the west of Guancheng, it is a barren land......

Man Gui, who followed up, looked at all this, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"Your Highness, although it is said that the last general will be a military general, in the matter of recovering the Western Regions, even if the people of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies are all patted on him, I am afraid that the ministers in the capital will also feel that the people are working and losing money."

"After all, the current Western Regions is no longer the Silk Road it once was......"

Man Gui's words expressed the attitude of the Great Ming Doctor towards the Western Regions.

His words also made waves in Zhu Youzhen's heart.

He looked to the West, unlike the scholars who only saw the benefits and trade-offs.

Standing here, Zhu Youzhen saw more of the battles of countless soldiers and generals on the battlefield and the sorrowful roars of war horses outside this pass thousands of years ago......

He seemed to have seen the rapid march of the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty many years ago, the westward envoy of Zhang Qian, and the convoy of Princess Xie Wu's distant marriage.

He also saw Huo Qubing lining up here, Su Dingfang leading the Tang army to the west, and Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing leading the Tang army to return......

He even saw the Tang army under the banner of "Guo", with a full 24,000 young soldiers walking out of here and heading for the Western Regions.

With smiles on their faces, they discussed how many daughters-in-law they would go home after being stationed in Anxi for a few years, but after many years, Zhu Youzhen did not see them return......

He was waiting, but what he was waiting for was that the Han people in this land were reduced to slavery by the Tubo people for the pleasure of hunting and killing the Han people in Hexi.

At this point, he thought that the matter was over, but soon he saw that many years later, a group of soldiers and horses holding high the banner of "Zhang" came from west to east, singing "King Qin's Breaking Array Music" from Shazhou.

Further back...... There were fewer and fewer Han people left behind, and in the end, only the faces of Hu people were left in Anxi Tang armor, and the thousands of miles of Buddha became mosques, even the people became Hu people.

He seemed to be holding out of expectations, and just as he was about to leave, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Expelle Hulu and restore China!"

"Establish a program of Chen Ji and relieve the people!"

The wind and sand in the northwest sounded in Zhu Youzhen's ears with this familiar Jianghuai official dialect, and when he looked back, he seemed to see the Ming army holding high the "Da Hui" banner and wearing mandarin duck battle jackets singing from east to west.

From the beginning of the third year of Song Jingyou to the fifth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, a full three hundred and thirty-six years, the faces of the Han people appeared here again.

The Ming army under the banner of "Feng" crossed here, and they went west, to Guazhou, and also to Dunhuang.

Obviously, they won seven battles and seven victories, and once entered the Western Regions, but for some reason, they withdrew back and built a fortress in this place.

After this, although Zhu Youzhen could still see the Ming army coming out of here and going west, it was only a flash in the pan after all.

This closed city is open, and it is a corridor for the exchange of civilizations. Closed, it is a barrier to defend the territory of the country.

Zhu Youzhen returned to reality from history, and his eyes walked out of the history of Mohu.

He saw clearly today's Jiayuguan, although it has busy streets, noisy streets, and buildings and faces full of Han culture......

But he also knew that the footsteps of the Han people seemed to stop at the gate at his feet, and this time had been one hundred and forty-two years.

Jiayuguan, which stands quietly between the snow-capped Qilian and the barren Black Mountain, is like a general stationed in the endless Gobi Desert for thousands of years.

It has come a long way and has witnessed too many historical changes and dynasties.

It doesn't have as many dazzling cultural treasures as Dunhuang, but it has its own eternal mission.

It is more like a lonely soul that exists on the border of the Central Plains and the Western Regions, for thousands of years, it has been like this for thousands of years.

Standing here, Zhu Youzhen's sense of mission seemed to have become heavier.

Whether the Han people want to step out of this gate is a choice in his hands.

Whether Jiayuguan wants to be a barrier to defend the land, or whether it wants to become a road between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, this choice is also in his hands.

If he doesn't do some things, it will be difficult for future generations to do them.

Looking at the Gobi yellow sand in the west, with a heavy heart, Zhu Youzhen knows very well, whether it is the Western Regions or the North Garden, or the more distant Mengchi.

Only if he fights down and immigrates to the real side, can he benefit his children and grandchildren.

"If we don't fight some battles, we have to leave them to future generations."

Zhu Youzhen turned around and left, but his back was very tall.

His voice sounded, echoing in Man Gui's ears, full of spirit.

"The old land of the Han and Tang Dynasties will be restored, and those who dare to speak out can be killed!"