"Three Shen and Five Orders are not allowed to collect miscellaneous items, why is the local yamen still collecting them?!"

"If it weren't for Uncle Qi Wang's question, wouldn't Jinyiwei never find out?!"

"Whether you can't find out, or if you're in the same boat, you know better than me!" In the East Palace in mid-August, Zhu Ciran took the note sent from Sichuan, and questioned Lu Yuangao, the new commander of Jinyi Weinan Town, step by step.

The East Palace, which was suffering from the autumn tigers, had a sudden drop in temperature at this moment, and it seemed that even the palace could feel the anger in the hearts of its owner, not to mention the palace maids and eunuchs around them.

Everyone was speechless, for fear of making a little noise and making the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty unhappy.

It's just that compared to them, Lu Yuangao, who was questioned, was not afraid at all, and said directly: "Your Highness, the relationship between the Jinyi Guards is very complicated, although there are 80,000 Jinyi Guards in Nanzhen Fusi, but many Jinyi Guards have long been corroded. ”

"In the eyes of the lower officials, it is not that there is no news from Nanzhen Fusi, but that the people below do not report it at all."

"If you want to put an end to their behavior of deceiving their superiors and subordinates, the lower officials think that the most direct and painful thing is self-examination!"

"Self-examination? You mean the Inspectorate? Zhu Ciran, who was sitting in the chair, had a calm face, but his temperament gave people a feeling of not being angry and arrogant.

"It's not the Inspectorate, but it's also the Inspectorate!" Lu Yuangao calmly said: "The officials of the Supervision Department in the Jinyi Guard, who are a little more incorruptible, have been transferred to the Qi State early. ”

"Although there are 20,000 people in the Supervision Department now, there are not a lot of profiteering among them, so the lower officials believe that the most important thing to do is to reorganize the Supervision Division, and then successively reorganize the South Town Fu Division and the North Town Fu Division respectively."

"Taking advantage of the current situation of Cui Yingyuan, Li Ruolian Zhishi, Lu Jianxing, Lu Wenzhao, Lu Xian, Lu Xiu and others going to Qi State, it is a good time to reorganize Jinyiwei!" Lu Yuangao did not shy away from saying his thoughts, and even said that he wanted to reorganize the Jinyi Guard and kick away many of the old ministers that his father had pulled all the way up.

Such words made Zhu Ciran squint, but he quickly made his own decision: "This matter will be handed over to you, but what I want you to do now is to arrest the officials of Xuzhou Mansion first." ”

"As long as you violate the "Da Ming Law", you don't need to discuss whether to be exiled or not, and you will be beheaded directly! Three Clans Exile! ”

"Yes!" Lu Yuangao responded, and after seeing that Zhu Ciran did not command, he bowed respectfully and slowly withdrew from the Chunhe Palace.

It's just that when he withdrew from the Chunhe Palace, Sun Kewang outside the palace also happened to walk in. The two looked at each other, looked at each other, and then staggered and left.

Lu Yuangao went to do his own thing, and Sun Kewang walked into the Chunhe Palace with a booklet.

"Your Royal Highness, Chitose ......" Sun Kewang saluted first after entering the palace, and then presented the above book with both hands: "Your Highness, this is the number of new acres of land from July last year to July this year. Hearing this, the eunuch in the palace stepped forward to take it, turned around and presented it to Zhu Ciran.

When Zhu Ciran watched, Sun Kewang explained: "In July of last year, the country has more than 1,042,370,000 mu of land, and now it has reached more than 1,072,720,000 mu in July of this year, with an increase of 30,344,000 mu. ”

"Among them, more than 13 million mu of machinery has been reclaimed, more than 14 million mu of livestock have been reclaimed, and more than 3 million mu of manpower have been reclaimed."

"According to the forecast of the Department of Agriculture, the cultivated land of the National Dynasty will exceed 1.1 billion mu in July next year." After Sun Kewang finished speaking, he also continued: "In addition, although the household registration department has not yet counted the latest population situation, the population of the national dynasty should have exceeded 195 million in July of this year. ”

"The Department of Household Registration predicts that it will take another two years for the dynasty to break through the population of 200 million without stopping the immigration policy."

"If the immigration policy is stopped, it will only take about a year......

"Migration can't stop!" Before Sun Kewang finished speaking, Zhu Ciran, who was sitting on the main seat, interrupted ruthlessly.

"Although the drought has subsided, the cultivated land of the country is still less than 900 million mu, and the grain, fruits, and vegetables cultivated are still not enough for the needs of the people of the country, and the price remains high."

"Population growth is too fast, which is not good for the current dynasty."

"Besides, if the immigration policy is cut off, won't it force the feudal domains to become Huhua?"

"Of the 237 overseas vassals, there are only more than 6.8 million people, but there are more than 70 million natives."

"Once the dynasty cuts off immigration, the overseas vassals will inevitably hate the dynasty in the future, and the gains of the dynasty system outweigh the losses."

"In the future, there will be any more ...... who dare to speak out" Zhu Ciran said, suddenly squinted his eyes, looked at Sun Kewang and asked, "What do you mean?" Zhu Ciran knew very well that Sun Kewang knew his character, so be smart to say that even if the household registration department said about the relocation, Sun Kewang should not convey it.

Since he conveyed it, he must have his own thoughts. Although Zhu Ciran is arbitrary and independent, he is still more concerned about Sun Kewang, the mainstay of the East Palace team.

He had to figure out what Sun Kewang meant.

"Your Highness......" Sun Kewang did not answer directly, but first made a gesture before speaking: "In the short term, the lower officials and His Royal Highness have the same thoughts. ”

"But in the long term, immigration policies must be tightly controlled, especially in alignment countries."

"......" Zhu Ciran was silent, but Sun Kewang continued: "There can be more immigrants in Qi State, but not all the time. ”

"The lower officials inquired about the local people and the territory of the Qi State."

"The country of Qi is tens of thousands of miles from north to south, thousands of miles from east to west, and there are only 20 million natives in its territory, but it has an area no less than that of the national dynasty, and there are gold and silver coal mines comparable to the national dynasty."

"The population of Qi is no less than 500,000 people who move every year, and if this goes on for a long time, it will only take more than ten years for Qi to assimilate the native people."

"Moreover, the industrial strength of Qi has always been one-third or more than that of the national dynasty."

"Right now, the King of Qi is still here, and this doesn't affect anything, but if the Qi clan doesn't respect the king in the future, it will be the Chu of Zong Zhou." Sun Kewang spoke boldly, but what he was waiting for was not Zhu Ciran's nod of approval, and frowned: "Throughout the ages, the Han family has been fighting continuously, and many reasons are precisely because they have seen too far and thought too much. ”

"As you said, the Qi State will be strong in the future, and it may threaten the national dynasty."

"But I ask you, how long will this so-called be in the future?" After Zhu Ciran finished speaking, he said without waiting for Sun Kewang to answer: "Uncle told me that if you save people and lose land, people and land will survive, and if you save land and lose people, you will lose people and land. ”

"What is the strength of my Ming Dynasty compared to the feudal domains?"

"It's not the territory, it's not the amount of arable land, it's the nearly 200 million people, the nearly 100 million literate people."

"Although there are nearly 80 million people in the land of the feudal domains at present, how many of them are literate and literate? It's less than a tenth. ”

"Their foundation is so thin, how can they threaten the dynasty?"

"Even if there is a State of Qi, what about Uncle Qi? If the immigration policy is not changed, will Qi be able to catch up with the Ming Dynasty? ”

"No, it won't!" Zhu Ciran was very confident, he leaned forward, full of oppression: "Even if the dynasty moves out of the country with 2 million people every year, it can add more than 3 million people every year. ”

"A hundred years later, even if the population of Qi exceeds 100 million, the population of Daming has already exceeded 500 million."

"Whether it is politics or war, it needs to have enough confidence to support, and population is the confidence of the dynasty to the vassals."

"What's more, the closest place between the Qi State and the National Dynasty is the Far North, and it is separated by hundreds of miles of ice ocean."

"If you really have to worry, you should also worry about India, which has a population of nearly 100 million, and worry about whether there will be a unified country there that can threaten the dynasty!" Zhu Ciran leaned back in his chair, which made Sun Kewang's pressure drop sharply.

"I recently learned a new word, and that is the trade war that Uncle Qi Wang said."

"Trade wars existed in the Spring and Autumn Period, and in my opinion, there is only the possibility of a trade war between Qi and the dynasty, and there is no possibility of a large-scale war."

"Even if twenty years later, the number of ships of the dynasty exceeds 10,000, and the army that can be mobilized to fight against Qi will not exceed 100,000, let alone Qi itself."

"Twenty years later, the 100,000 troops of the national dynasty may not be able to destroy Qi, and it is even more impossible for Qi to send 100,000 troops to fight in the national dynasty."

"As long as the war does not break out, the dynasty and the Qi country will complement each other."

"Kewang, I don't want you to get infected with those rotten stinking diseases......" Zhu Ciran glanced at Sun Kewang deeply, and Sun Kewang pretended to be ashamed when he heard this.

In his heart, he still felt that Qi should be sanctioned after Zhu Youzhen became a vassal to prevent Qi from becoming a big trouble for the Ming Dynasty.

However, since Zhu Ciran said so, it was impossible for him not to give face, so he could only be ashamed on his face and arrogant in his heart.

"Stand down." Zhu Ciran waved his hand, and Sun Kewang also bowed when he saw this: "The lower official retired ......" After saying that, he respectfully withdrew from the Chunhe Palace.

Before he withdrew, Li Yongzhen, who was standing in the corner, stepped forward and whispered: "Your Highness, this Sun Kewang is disrespectful to His Royal Highness King Qi, and he is rebellious, I am afraid it will be difficult to control, it is better to ......."

"It's okay!" Zhu Ciran raised his hand to realize that Li Yongzhen shut up, and at the same time looked at the gate of Chunhe Palace and said confidently: "Most of them have already entered the age of establishment, and I am only a weak crown, why should I be afraid of them being rebellious?" ”

"The more rebellious you are, the better you can control ......" Zhu Ciran looked at Sun Kewang who had just walked out of the Chunhe Palace through the crack in the window, his eyes revealing confidence.

Also when Zhu Ciran watched Sun Kewang leave, a eunuch walked into the Chunhe Palace and said to Zhu Ciran: "Your Highness, Sun Ge Lao asks to see you." ”

"Xuan!" Zhu Ciran lowered his head to deal with the music, and at the same time responded to the eunuch. Seeing this, the eunuch returned the salute, and then returned to the door, and summoned Sun Chengzong, who was waiting at the door, to come in.

At present, Sun Chengzong is seventy-nine years old, and he will be eighty years old in another year, so he naturally walks a little shaky.

Seeing this, Li Yongzhen was lifted up to the chair, and Zhu Ciran also raised his hand and spoke: "Elder Sun Ge doesn't have to bow down and salute, just say something." ”

"The lower official has ...... order," Sun Chengzong responded in a low voice, and then sat down and said: "The lower official came this time to submit his resignation to His Royal Highness and beg to return to his hometown." ”

"In addition, the establishment of a province in the river should also be said." Sun Chengzong said, and also took out the two books hidden in his sleeve.

These two books, one is a rhetoric and the other is a recital. After Li Yongzhen took over, Sun Chengzong explained: "His Royal Highness the King of Qi said that Kandahar must be taken to end the war, so it is better to set the river as the land of the five provinces. While Sun Chengzong spoke, Zhu Ciran also took over his resignation and transcript.

He looked at it briefly, and then nodded: "Elder Ge knows that I am not good at being polite, and besides, Elder Ge is indeed old, so I will approve this matter first." ”

"But whether my father will agree to it, I don't know."

"As for the matter in the river, I need to discuss it with Uncle Qi Wang, this matter is not so easy to decide......"

"Beep-" When Zhu Ciran muttered in response to Sun Chengzong, the battlefield in the river, thousands of miles away, also came to the last link before the end.

A shrill whistle was blown, and the boundless Gobi Desert resembled a yellow sea, and the sun shone on it, shining brightly with ten thousand points of light.

In this environment, any bit of green will be infinitely magnified, and what is magnified now is a city facing the yellow sand of the Gobi and backed by a wide oasis.

The city of Khiva, the royal court of the Khiva Khanate, was besieged by less than 10,000 men at the moment. From the sky, outside the city of Khiva was a crowd of black people, but they were not Ming troops, and the Khivas were poorly equipped.

They rode on horseback, and behind them was the city of Khiva, which was large enough to hold 100,000 people. At the head of the city, a defender named Khiva was lined up in a row, ready with all kinds of equipment to defend the city.

The Khivans, there is no doubt that they are the barbarians of the Transoxiana region second only to the Turkmens. They plundered Bukhara and Kazakh, and also harassed Safavid Persia, and often appeared on the battlefield as mercenaries in the Mughal and Safavid wars.

It's just that time has passed, and the Khivas, who were once brave and good at fighting, have now become cowards who rely on the city walls, and they are facing the Ming cavalry with less than 10,000 people.

Under the scorching sun, the Ming cavalry stood in the Gobi steppe east of the city of Khiva. As the wind and sand blow, a rising wave of heat slapped on people's faces, making it difficult to breathe.

It's just that such hardships can't dispel the Ming army's fighting spirit. The eyes hidden under the visor reveal bloodthirstiness, and everyone wants to take action immediately, and at the same time, destroy the city of Khiva, build the head of the Khiva into a capital view, and take some more silver to go home, so that the family can have a good year.

Yes, Chinese New Year...... Although there are still four months before the Chinese New Year, it takes between two and four months for the Ming soldiers on the western expedition to return home from the river.

Therefore, they desperately hope to level the Hezhong region, and now, the city in front of them is the first clarion call for the Western Expeditionary Army to return home.

"Artillery in position!"

"Fixed-shot reloading, seven quarters and five minutes in the direction."

"Fixed-shot reloaded!" Listening to the gunner's voice echoing in his ears, Li Dingguo put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand and said casually: "Pre-firing, twelve rounds!" ”

"Twelve rounds preset, ready ...... Put! ”

"Bumper bumper-" The fierce sound of two hundred Yanshan five-pound cannons sounded in the half-Gobi and half-steppe in front of Khiva City.

With the sound of artillery, iron cannonballs from iron cannons began to bombard the head and bottom of the city of Khiva.

For a time, the entire Khiva army inside and outside the city of Khiva was in disarray, and in the face of this situation, the Khivas had no way to organize a counterattack, all because they were now a country without a Great Khan.

Since the second year of the Apocalypse, when the Khiva prince Inbars rebelled, and the Khiva Khan was deposed and his eyes gouged out, the Khiva Khanate was deprived of the Great Khan, and from then on, a long period of royal infighting began, and it was mired in a fierce struggle between the Uzbeks and the Turkmens.

It is precisely because of this that Lin Dan Khan did not have the opportunity to fight with the Khiva and Turkmen, otherwise in the case of having the Great Khan, the Uzbeks of the Khiva Khanate would definitely go to Lin Dan Khan's territory to plunder.

The Ming army happened to seize the time when the Khiva Khanate was leaderless, so they were able to defeat them continuously until they were forced to retreat to the city of Khiva.

Their alliance was too fragile to be thrown into disarray in the event of a tough battle, and it was no different now.

Although a small number of them realized the need to break through the encirclement line of the Ming cavalry on the perimeter and tried to charge.

However, the seemingly fragile encirclement line, which consisted of only one or two people side by side, became an impregnable steel wall in their path.

"Bang bang bang-" The sound of gunfire all the time was terrifying, and with the sound of gunfire, many Khivas who tried to break through were planted with men and horses.

At a distance of 200 paces, even cavalry will need more than ten seconds, and in these ten seconds, they will be shot by nearly 1,000 people on the encirclement line, three times in a row......

"Wow!"

"Bang bang bang-"

"Breakout!"

"Allah willing!"

"Can't rush through!"

"O Allah!"

"Allah is strong!"

......In an instant, the neighing of war horses, the sound of gunfire, the sound of shouting and breaking through the encirclement, and the sound of falling to the ground were continuous and endless.

The 30,000 cavalrymen belonging to more than a dozen tribes, according to the leaders of each tribe, broke through from all directions, but none of them succeeded, and all of them fell on the Gobi and steppe under the city of Khiva.

Half an hour passed, when the gunfire of the Ming army stopped, the 30,000 Shiva cavalry, who had just been majestic and high-spirited, had died, and in addition to the corpses on the battlefield, only the wailing wounded soldiers remained, and some of the horses that had missed and walked around.

The reversal of the war was so rapid that the 10,000 Khiva defenders inside the city had no time to react, and the army outside the city was wiped out.

Yin Erbars looked at this scene outside the city, he was in a trance, and he couldn't believe that the firearms of the Ming army were so sharp and the combat power was so strong.

He could only watch as the Ming army cleaned up the battlefield, killing the wounded soldiers of Shiva one by one, and at the same time recovering the iron cannonballs under the city.

Half an hour later, the Ming army regained its strength and launched another artillery bombardment on the city of Khiva.

"Bumper bumper—" The sound of artillery rang out again, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Khiva had fallen into despair.

At the same time, Zhu Cizhuo, who was outside the city, also rode a horse to Li Dingguo's side from the periphery, and presented a military information in his hand: "General soldiers, General Li in the south has recovered the city in the south of Hezhong, and will set out to recover Kandahar controlled by the Nanyu in five days." ”

"General Cao sent a military report, ordering our troops to capture Khiva within ten days, encircle and suppress the Khiva and Turkmen bandits in the south of the river, and support General Li as appropriate."

"Due to the adjustment of the military region, after taking Kandahar, the soldiers and horses of the 4th Battalion of Shan Yu and the 4th Battalion of Shaanxi will be transferred to Hezhong and Lingbei, and the soldiers and horses of the 12th Battalion of the Western Expedition will be on leave for three months."

"Good!" Hearing that he could take a vacation, many generals and garrisons entrenched around Li Dingguo applauded one after another, and the joy on their faces could not be concealed.

However, compared to their happiness, Li Dingguo at this moment frowned, fiddling with a rifle.

When the generals were happy, he took the rifle and said: "Although the rifle of the national dynasty is sharp, it is easy to get stuck in places where the wind and sand are strong. ”

"This happened during the Northern Expedition, but it wasn't as serious and frequent as when we were in the river."

"This problem has to be paid attention to by the people in the Armaments Institute and improved." Li Dingguo said, and Zhu Ciyan also said: "The stuck shell is not bad, I heard that as soon as it is October in Lingbei, the rifle will be frozen, and it will not be able to load bullets at all, and it will not be able to shoot." ”

"The only ones who are more suitable for the battlefield are the Western Army and the Southern Army, but there is a lot of moisture in the south, and the rifle must be maintained frequently, otherwise it will rust." Zhu Ciyan said what he knew, but in the end, he also smiled heartily: "Even if there are many shortcomings, with the speed of fire and power of the rifle, it can still lay down the territory for the dynasty and defend the territory." ”

"Don't take it lightly...... Li Dingguo shook his head, and then looked up at the city of Khiva, which was being devastated by artillery.

"If I take here, I will be able to return to Beijing......" Li Dingguo's expression was a little moved, and he didn't know what he thought.

Seeing this, Zhu Ciyan next to him knew that he was thinking of Zhu Youzhen, who was far away in the Central Plains. has been with Li Dingguo for so long, and Zhu Ciyan is also very reluctant to give up Li Dingguo.

He knew that if Li Dingguo stayed in Daming, it would be the pillar of Daming in the next twenty or thirty years. However, Li Dingguo's heart is not in Daming, which he cannot change.

Moreover, this phenomenon does not only appear in Li Dingguo, but in fact it generally appears in all armies of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.

But those who have been in the army for more than ten years basically favor the king of Qi more than the dynasty. This phenomenon became more and more serious especially after Huang Long and the other three former governors moved to Qi State.

The three of them are willing to move, which shows that the Qi country is not as bad as everyone thinks. In addition, "Daming Daily" once used a space to introduce the situation of the feudal domains, and focused on the situation of the Qi State, which made many generals even more shaken.

The only thing that can make them hesitate may be that the Qi State is too peaceful, which makes the generals lose the opportunity to make contributions.

It's just that Zhu Ciyan also knows that Daming has been fighting for more than 20 years, and it's time to rest.

If the two countries do not fight, then in addition to the new generation of generals will not favor the Qi country, I am afraid that many old generals will choose to go to the Qi country.

"Alas......" with a long sigh, Zhu Ciyan didn't say anything, but just watched with the generals as the iron cannonballs hit the head of Shiva City.