On the fifth day of June in the 38th year of the Apocalypse, Sun Chuanting, the second assistant of the cabinet, returned to his hometown, and Emperor Zhu Youxiao read his merits and promoted him to the acting prince.

After Sun Chuanting returned to his hometown, unexpectedly, Kim Hyun, the former cabinet minister, was promoted to the second assistant of the cabinet.

At the same time, the cabinet minister Zhou Yanru also returned to his hometown on the tenth day of the first month, but for Zhou Yanru, Emperor Zhu Youxiao's reward was much lower, and he only added the false title of the crown prince.

The withdrawal of two ministers from the cabinet position made many people pay attention to the vacant cabinet position.

It's just that without waiting for them to wait for the convening of the minister's vote, the inner court suddenly issued an order, and Li Dingguo, the governor of the Shangzhi Governor's Office, was appointed as the governor of Zhengnan, and personally led the four cavalry guards of Shangzhi to control the western army and recover the lost territory of the Ganges.

This is the first time that the Ming Dynasty has conducted a campaign of more than 50,000 people since the 23rd year of the Apocalypse.

This battle lineup was also quite luxurious in the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

Li Dingguo, the governor of the southern army, Wu Sangui, the general of the southern left, Ma Xianglin, the general of the southern right, Mu Yi, the chief soldier of the former army, Ma Wanchun, the general of the Chinese army, and Qin Gongming, the general of the rear army.

In addition, there was also Zheng Chenggong, the general army of the Southern Xiaoxi, who assisted in the expedition to the south, and a total of 80,000 troops by sea and land began to assemble.

At the same time, in order to share the pressure, the new governor of the Northern Army, Zhu Ciyan, sent Zhu Fuju, the deputy governor of the Northern Army, to lead four battalions of cavalry and 12,000 people to conquer the Kaibor Pass.

Qi Wulong, the envoy of the small Western Ocean, commanded 60,000 soldiers and horses of the various domains to the north to make a feint attack and disperse the Mughal forces.

In July, Shah Jahan led 50,000 troops with his eldest son to garrison the Khybor Pass, and Aurangzeb led 200,000 troops along the Ganges River.

On October 20, Li Dingguo arrived in Bengal Province on the front line, and the army was assembled.

On October 27, Zheng Chenggong, the commander-in-chief of the small Western Ocean, commanded the three guards and horses of the navy, and 72 steam gunboats entered the Ganges River, annihilating 20,000 Mughal sailors and occupying the water conservancy artery.

On October 28, Li Dingguo led 60,000 Ming troops to cross the river, and naval gunboats shelled the Mughal city.

In this battle, the Ming army's 120mm gunboat artillery did not fire solid shells as before, but fired shells that would explode.

This was not only the case with the gunboats, but also from the shells fired by the 70mm guns of the Ming Army.

More than 20 years after possessing mercury thunderate, the Ming army was finally equipped with collision fire shells.

Although it was nowhere near as powerful as the collision-fired cannonballs of the late 19th century, it was unrivalled against the walls of the 17th century.

Sima Zhu and Yin, who accompanied the army, wrote in a report to the Governor's Office of the Five Armies:

[When the Nanyu heard the sound of gunfire and artillery bombardment, they saw that the city wall was toppling, the houses were collapsing, and the city was full of cries, and the corpses were resting. 】

Sima was an official who recorded military reports in the army, and Zhu Heyin participated in the war as the emperor's grandson, so it is difficult to say that it was not instructed by the crown prince Zhu Ciran.

As for Zhu Heyin's account, it is also biased towards reality, in the "Battle of the Ganges", Aurangzeb's 200,000-strong army hardly fought against the Ming army.

They often encountered shelling from Ming artillery positions before they saw the Ming army.

When the shelling began, all the Mughal troops and civilians fled, and the Ming army did not rush to catch up.

The Ming army always appeared when they tried to stop and build a defensive line, so as to drive them westward.

On the 27th of the lunar month, on the eve of the return of Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cixuan, Zhu Cijiong and Xia Yunyi to the state of Qi, Aurangzeb's army of 200,000 fled with more than 8 million refugees and crossed the Ganges River and fled into Delhi.

However, it is worth mentioning that in order to allow the army to cross the river first, Aurangzeb ordered the refugees to cross the river on their own.

Because many refugees do not know the nature of water, and because the Ganges River has rained several days ago, countless people have drowned and died.

According to the records of Sima Shilang, the atrocities of Aurangzeb caused a large number of corpses to be washed down from the upper reaches, and the Ming army on the north bank was busy piling up and burning the corpses that washed up on the shore, and the naval gunboats on the Ganges ceased fire to prevent the propellers from being destroyed by pieces of corpses.

These corpses flowed down for more than ten days, and the statistics of the Ming army on the north bank alone were no less than 600,000, and Sima Zhu and Yin of the accompanying army even said in the record that Aurangzeb regarded the people as livestock......

"The Nanju are so brutal, if they could treat the tens of millions of people under their command as their own, they wouldn't be like this."

On the wharf of Yingzhou City, the main island mansion, when Zhu Cihong was walking on the street with a newspaper, he sighed with emotion, and the two people behind him couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Behind him were two young men in their early twenties, five feet seven or eight inches tall.

The two young people are somewhat similar to Zhu Cihong's facial features, although they are not as beautiful as him, but when they are placed in a place, they are also rare handsome.

"Big brother, what is there to visit in this Yingzhou City?"

When the one who was more out of the youth spoke, Zhu Cihong also turned his head and smiled:

"It has been nearly 30 years since the dynasty recovered Yingzhou, and Yingzhou is the place with the largest number of natives in various provinces, isn't such a place worth seeing?"

"What the eldest brother said is that the second brother usually doesn't care about this, don't you remember that there are nearly 20 million people in my Qi country?"

As soon as Zhu Cihong spoke, Zhu Cijiong, as the third child, echoed, and Zhu Cixiong, who was deflated, didn't dare to say Zhu Cixiong when he heard this, so he could only glare at Zhu Cijiong:

"The kid always relies on the eldest brother, the fox and the tiger."

"When the eldest brother was away, the second brother bullied me a lot, and now I just want the second brother to pay back some interest."

Zhu Cijiong said, his eyes still looking at Zhu Cixuan's waist, which was where he put the banknotes.

"The second brother got so much money at school, it's time to buy something for the younger brother."

"You don't want to talk nonsense!" When Zhu Cixuan heard this, he immediately retorted, and at the same time looked at Zhu Cixuan and said flatteringly:

"What is my money? Today, the eldest brother is here, so it is natural to take the eldest brother as the lead. ”

"You say yes, big brother......"

"You two boys......" Zhu Cihong couldn't cry or laugh, so he could only shake his head and walk forward.

Seeing this, the two boys hurriedly followed, and the streets they passed through no longer had a trace of the shogunate.

Although Daming's cement production capacity is already very high, for Daming, which has a vast territory, that cement output is still insufficient.

Therefore, even though cement has entered the construction market, the price of cement has not come down.

As a result, most of the buildings in the Ming Dynasty are still dominated by a small amount of concrete and wooden buildings.

As the government of Yingzhou Prefecture, Yingzhou City has a permanent population of no less than 500,000, so it occupies a large area.

Even if they don't enter the city, the fang market outside the city alone is enough for three people to hang out.

Moreover, compared with the bustling and lively city, the outside of the city can better reflect the situation of Yingzhou.

On the cement paved street, on the left and right are small two-story buildings made of concrete and wood, with shops on the first floor and resting places on the second floor.

Behind the invisible small building, there is often a small courtyard with only one floor, which is mostly the case with the houses facing the street in the Daming neighborhood.

Similar to the Qi State, the immigrants in Yingzhou were mainly from the three provinces south of the Yangtze River, and the style of the houses they built was naturally similar to that of the south of the Yangtze River.

Outside the city of Yingzhou, every household courtyard and door are connected to each other, even some shops are like this, the wall is next to the wall, and the eaves are connected to the eaves.

Under the eaves on the second floor, there are some hanging wooden plaques, which are covered with various paintings.

This is very inconsistent with Jiangnan, Zhu Cihong casually asked a common person, but he didn't want the streets to be basically Han people.

According to the interpretation of the locals, visitors can tell whether the owner of the house is practicing literature or martial arts, or whether he is engaged in business or joining the army, farming, or serving the people according to the paintings on these wooden signs.

After listening to the explanations of the locals, when Zhu Cihong and the others went to look at the wooden signs, they could roughly know what the owners of these houses were doing.

"I see that these streets are all farmers, and they are also considered lucky, I just asked, such a shop can be rented out, can collect two taels of silver a year."

Zhu Cixuan said suddenly, but Zhu Cihong's heart was not here.

He is more concerned about the proportion of the people in Yingzhou.

He took the two boys to walk through the streets and alleys, but the voices in his ears were all official words, and everywhere he saw was wearing Mingwei Hanfu.

It is difficult to understand the local situation in this way, because the Ming Dynasty's education of Yingzhou has been from top to bottom.

Fortunately, he learned from Xia Yunyi before he set off that there are more than 17 million people in Yingzhou, of which more than 9 million are nationals and married women who have been given nationality, and the remaining 8 million are basically local people in Yingzhou.

At first, he didn't believe it, but now it seems that the truth is really as he sees.

Judging from the language, writing, clothing, and habits, the people of Yingzhou have all been educated by the imperial court.

"My father once said that the people of Yingzhou have behaved in the following ways since ancient times."

"At present, although the eight million people of Yingzhou have been indoctrinated, and millions of people overseas are also dependent on our country's vassal domains, we must not be unguarded and cautious."

Zhu Cihong said his opinion to Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong, and at the same time looked around and said:

"Although I haven't been to the fields yet, I heard that Xia Changshi said that there are more than 17 million people in Yingzhou, and only 40 million cultivated land."

"Of these 40 million acres, almost seventy percent are in the hands of immigrants and their families, while more than 8 million Yingzhou natives only own more than 12 million acres of land."

"In the long run, does this Yingzhou have a reason not to be chaotic?"

Zhu Cihong said, paused at the same time, and then said worriedly:

"The attitude of the dynasty towards the local people has always been strict, and when I was playing chess with my uncle in the palace a few days ago, I once saw the "Yellow Book" and "Fish Scale Atlas" handed in by the household department."

"Although the dynasty has 1.4 billion mu of land, the 22 million people of the dynasty only have more than 80 million mu of land, and the people have more than 1.3 billion mu."

Speaking of this, Zhu Cihong spoke earnestly:

"On average, the people are almost seven acres per capita, while the local people are less than four acres per capita."

"It's just a three-acre gap, what's the matter?"

Zhu Cijiong was puzzled, in his opinion, more than three acres per capita was enough for the local people to eat well, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Zhu Cixuan next to him said:

"Brother Jiong'er has never been to the fields, and he rarely goes to the countryside, I don't know what this person's extra three acres represents."

"Take the situation of you and me when I was farming at Suncheon University, three acres of land can produce five stones of grain, and five stones of grain can feed two more people."

"The fields in the hands of the natives can only make themselves better, once they want to multiply, then ......"

Zhu Cixuan didn't continue, but Zhu Cijiong, who had experienced cultivation and reading, immediately understood what he meant.

"So what the eldest brother and the second brother mean is that the natives will ...... in the future"

"Okay, we can see these things, it's impossible for the eldest brother and father and imperial uncle not to see it, you and I still have to think about how to deal with the people of Qi country."

Zhu Cihong interrupted Zhu Cijiong's words and also led the topic to Qi Guo.

However, Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong were said by him, and their minds were suddenly no longer on this.

Both of them came out of Shuntian University, so they naturally knew that compared to the local people who had formed a cultural system on the side of the Ming Dynasty, the local people who did not have a system on the side of Qi were not very easy to govern.

What they are worried about is the natives in Daming, after all, they have lived in Daming for more than 20 years.

Therefore, even if Zhu Cihong returned to Yingzhou Port with them, their minds were not on it.

Due to the fact that the fleet was replenished with too many supplies and the ships had to be overhauled, the fleet had to stay in Yingzhou Port for three days.

Therefore, on the second day, Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong traveled together.

The actions of the two were seen by Zhu Cihong, but he didn't say anything.

As he expected, the two brothers went shopping for two days in a row, and finally found Zhu Cihong the night before the fleet departed, and told Zhu Cihong about the wealth and poverty of Yingzhou.

"Every family in Yingzhou eats a full meal every day, and eats a little meat for two meals a day, and the life is very comfortable."

In the dim room of the oil lamp, Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong talked about the situation of the people in Yingzhou, while Zhu Cihong listened quietly.

"However, compared to them, there are almost no meat dishes on the table of the natives."

"A full meal with a few plates of sea vegetables is already a good life."

After Zhu Cixuan finished speaking, Zhu Cijiong also said:

"I see that although they have learned the official language, wear Ming clothes and Hanfu, and speak respectfully, they are very resistant to us in their hearts."

"When I talk to them, I always feel that they keep a little distance from us, not only with us, but also with the people who have lived in Yingzhou for a long time."

"In my opinion, the people of Yingzhou have probably never given up the idea of rebellion."

"It's just that no one is raising the pole right now, otherwise I'm afraid this place is just a pile of dry firewood, which will ignite when it is lit."

The words of the two boys made Zhu Cihong also have a snack, and he comforted the worried two:

"I'll write a handwritten letter later, and send the letter to the East Palace before Tianming leaves, thinking that the eldest brother will make good arrangements after learning the news."

With that, he rubbed his brows: "You guys go down and rest early." ”

"Good ......"

Seeing Zhu Cihong say this, Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong could only get up and exit the house and return to their respective rooms to rest.

On the second day, with the whistle of the steam engine ship, the three steamers left Yingzhou Port.

At the same time, the letter written by Zhu Cihong to Zhu Ciran was also sent to the capital.

When the letter was delivered to the capital, it was already the evening of the seventeenth day of the first month of the thirty-ninth year of the Apocalypse.

Unlike Qi State, the Lantern Festival of the Ming Dynasty is still the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth day of the first lunar month.

Therefore, when Zhu Ciran got Zhu Cihong's handwriting, the people of the capital were celebrating the Lantern Festival.

The sky in the capital was like day this night, and the fireworks hardly stopped for a moment, and they burst out in the sky over the capital every second.

Zhu Ciran finished reading the letter, took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and rubbed his eyes.

Years of dealing with government affairs, coupled with increasing age, inevitably made him suffer from myopia.

He got up and walked to the window of the Spring and Harmony Palace, looking at the fireworks blooming over the capital, and barely squeezed out a smile on his face.

"Your Highness, the cabinet ministers ask to see you."

Li Yongzhen's voice appeared in the hall, and Zhu Ciran said without thinking about it: "Biography"

Lee Yong-jung responded, turned around and summoned Kim Hyun.

After a while, Kim Hyun, who was already eight out of forty, appeared in the temple.

Compared with the high spirits when he was in Qi Kingdom, he is too old at this moment.

The hair is much grayer and not to mention, and the single person also looks a lot fatter.

His obesity seems to be caused by long-term hard work, and Sun Chuanting's Zhishi also made him gradually unable to do anything in the court.

"Your Highness, there is good news from the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, the Ganges Mansion has been recovered."

"Li Dingguo, the governor of Zhengnan, said that there are still more than 800,000 local people left, do you want to drive them away?"

Kim Hyun brought good news, and after listening to it, Zhu Ciran replied without thinking:

"Stay, the job of the migrants is to take over tens of millions of acres of local arable land, and it is too wasteful to use them for projects."

"It's not bad for these 800,000 people to stay as workers, according to three acres per person, give them fields, and Qi people will organize households."

Zhu Ci responded without looking back, and at the same time diverted the topic and said to the fireworks in the sky that kept for a moment:

"This year's fireworks have been blooming, and they don't seem to have stopped, are they run by the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion?"

"Back to His Highness......" Kim Hyun said:

"The Shuntianfu Yamen only set off fireworks for one hour on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month this year, and after discovering that the people were setting off more fireworks, they stopped their actions and sent the officials to the fire department in the city to help prevent fire."

"In recent years, the people have become rich, and the price of fireworks has dropped, even rural people are willing to buy more than ten catties to go home, let alone the capital."

Jin Xuan's words made Zhu Ciran breathe a sigh of relief, he turned around and walked to the table, and at the same time said:

"I always say that the people are doing well, but I don't have time to look at it, and I don't know if it's really as you say, the people are really doing well."

Zhu Ciran's words told his helplessness, he thought about it carefully, he hadn't left Beizhili for almost three years.

As Zhu Youxiao grows older, although he looks good on the surface, if Zhu Youxiao is really allowed to work on state affairs, I am afraid that Zhu Youxiao's body will not be able to bear it.

Zhu Ciran is no longer the impulsive young man he was back then, and when he reaches middle age, even he can't help but be a little forward-looking.

Of course, in addition to this change, the bigger change is that he gradually became suspicious of hundreds of officials, just like Zhu Youzhen.

Thinking that the Ganges Mansion had been defeated and the Ganges Province was about to be established, Zhu Ciran also talked about the business to Kim Xuan:

"Now that the Ganges province has been recovered, the Ganges province should also be established."

"It's not enough to have a province alone, tell the Migration Department and Huangdian, and the officials of the State Newspaper Bureau, and vigorously recruit immigrants to go to Ganges Province."

"The immigration policy for the Ganges province is mainly based on granting 20 acres of land per person."

"In addition, the Guanguanfang passed through Enke last year, and the 7,000 officials waiting to be sent can also be sent to Ganges Province."

"Yao Qisheng was transferred to the Ganges River by the inspection of the salt class, and was appointed as the political envoy of the Ganges River, and Chen Tingjing, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, was the prefect of the Ganges Prefecture."

After Zhu Ciran finished arranging, Kim Hyun returned the salute and said that he should go.

He thought that the matter would be almost over here, but Zhu Ciran looked at him directly while sitting back in his position, and squinted his eyes:

"Li Dingguo, the governor of Shangzhi, entered the cabinet and served as a scholar of Wuyingdian University, and Yan Yinshao of the Metropolitan Procuratorate entered the cabinet and served as a scholar of Huagai Palace."

"With the command of Yiluanwei to make Zhang Xiu serve as the governor of the capital, Chengde official was reinstated, and on the same day organized the Metropolitan Procuratorate to conduct a Beijing inspection, expanding the scope of the Beijing inspection from 100 officials to civilian ......"

"......" heard that his friend who had been imprisoned for nearly twenty years was released, Kim Hyun was stunned for a moment, and then reacted and gave up: "Minister, the order is ......."

After that, seeing that Zhu Ciran had no other arrangements, he slowly withdrew from the Chunhe Palace.

Zhu Ciran didn't stop him, and he didn't say much.

He is no longer the crown prince Zhu Ciran who followed Kim Hyun and Sung Deok's butts and called the teacher.

Now he ...... It is the prison of the Ming Dynasty!

(End of chapter)