From Xifengkou all the way north, when he arrived near Qingcheng, the twelve-year-old letter king Zhu Youzhen had already figured out the military importance of Daning Town under Zheng Haizhu's on-the-spot explanation.

It is connected to the upper reaches of the Liao River in the north, and can obtain abundant water sources for agriculture and animal husbandry.

In the east, it forms an uninterrupted defense line with the Daling River, Quang Ninh, and Liaoyang, and invokes each other.

To the west is the Xuanfu of the Ming Dynasty's nine-sided town.

Looking south at the Great Wall of Yanshan.

For the Han Dynasty, which had long been trapped by the border troubles of the northern nomads, the boundary of the Daning Grassland was the military base and resource supply center of the invaders of the northern captives.

Both Liao and Jin took Daning as one of their national capitals, and the Yuan Dynasty placed Daning under the rule of Liaoyang Province, which was still the military and political hub of their own power in the north, which fully revealed the importance of Daning.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Empire, would lose the limited cognition of the fixed border of the Great Wall from the perspective of a founding emperor with the most bloody courage and aggressive spirit, and would rather take the risk of hiring alien iron horsemen such as Duoyanwei to let Daning Town be under the rule of the Han regime.

Hundreds of years later, in this autumn, Zhu Youzhen, who entered the vast world outside the Saiwai, combined with the military map spread out in front of Master Zheng, imagined that the great grandfather placed 50,000 Ming army heroes on the land under his feet, and felt the pride of the blood for the first time in the grassland wind.

But when he opened his mouth to discuss with Zheng Haizhu, the young prince's tone was accompanied by a vague complaint about his ancestor Zhu Di.

"Master Zheng, such a battleground for soldiers, how can Master Yongle say that if you don't want it, you don't want it?"

"Because of the fight for the throne," Zheng Haizhu was not ready to consider the rhetoric, but answered the students' questions directly, "Yongle Ye was the king of Yan back then, and he waved his army to the south to attack Emperor Jianwen, and he was afraid of King Ning who was stationed in Daning, so he copied his back road to attack, so he rebelled against the Duoyan Sanwei under King Ning, not only launched a mutiny, imprisoned King Ning, but also selected the elite of these Mongols, incorporated them into the Yan army, and fought all the way to Nanjing. After the country changed hands, Yongle Ye returned the grassland of Daning Town to the Mongols, and beyond the Great Wall, it was no longer under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. ”

After listening to Zhu Youzhen, he opened his mouth and was stunned for a moment, and suddenly showed a suspicious look: "That's not right." ”

"What's wrong?" Zheng Haizhu asked gently.

Zhu Youzhen rolled his eyes and said: "Those Mongolians are willing to give our Ming life, it must be because the food and rewards are sufficient, otherwise, why don't they go west to join their own people?" In this case, after they helped Yongle Ye win the battle, they should beg more and more to give us an errand and a reward, instead of going back to the grasslands around Daning and being a lost dog? ”

Jung Hae-joo smiled appreciatively.

This king of letters, who may not be able to be the "Chongzhen Emperor" in this life, is still suspicious, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

As long as you are not stupid and reasonable to question, over time, you may become a virtuous king who guards one side.

Zheng Haizhu then pulled the curtain of the car, looked at the vast grassland outside and said: "Don't hide it from Your Highness, this is the reason for the loss of the Daning Dusi, I also have doubts at first hearing, since the year before last, because of the restoration matter, the end of the investigation is deeper, and I believe that Daning and the surrounding guards were not completely abandoned when Yongle Ye." Until the Jingtai period, the imperial court also forbade the Mongols to enter the Daning Weijiu to occupy the magpie's nest, which shows that at least at that time, the Son of Heaven and the imperial court still regarded Daning as the territory of the Ming Dynasty. But by the time of Jiajingye, the Mongolian tribes such as Horqin and Karaqin in the east invaded the south and west, and I couldn't afford to pay people and money to pass through these boundaries outside the pass, and Daning Town gradually became deserted and lost. ”

Zhu Youzhen's eyebrows were tightly locked, but his eyes were focused intently, showing the seriousness of listening and the operation of synchronous thinking.

After his teacher finished speaking, Zhu Youzhen sighed lightly: "In the final analysis, you still have to have silver and food." Those Mongols, that's right, we don't pay people, why do they obey us? ”

Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "So, after His Royal Highness arrives in Daning this time, you will see how Huang Yushi and them are doing." ”

After two more days of walking, the official convoy finally arrived at Chengguan in Daning.

Huang Zunsu and Ma Xianglin had already greeted them two miles outside the city.

Huang Zunsu is the same as Wang Huazhen, who guards Guangning City in the east, and he also receives the actual post of governor of the border town, and hangs the name of the imperial history of the right capital, and the four official residences under his head, although he has the same trick as the complement on Zheng Haizhu's chest, but there is still a gap between the officials who are released and the leaders of the ministries and institutes directly under the central government.

But after many years of friendship with Yu Weishi, Huang Zun has no mustard.

After he saluted Zhu Youzhen, he rarely wiped off the old-fashioned and respectful appearance that he had always shown, turned to Zheng Haizhu, and smiled with this old friend: "Zheng Siqing's new official took office, and the first place to patrol was in Daning, Huang and General Ma, and I was honestly afraid. ”

Zheng Haizhu also smiled: "There's nothing to be afraid of, I've seen it in a few Xiaowei just now, and the harvest is okay, especially sweet potatoes." ”

Huang Zunsu knows.

When he was assigned to Daning Town the year before last, Zheng Haizhu assured him that he would definitely take advantage of the opportunity of the Imperial Prelude to order the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Industry not to pay arrears for the recruitment and rehabilitation of Daning.

But at the same time, Zheng Haizhu immediately worked hard, and after consulting Xu Guangqi, he paid to invite some good farmers from Songjiang and sent them to Daning to teach Ma Xianglin's battalion soldiers how to grow sweet potatoes.

This thing is much better than rice and wheat, and it is the nemesis of famine, so plant it outside the fortress first.

This time, I saw the Gongwei Fort on the periphery of Daning Town, and there were already quite vibrant village dwellings, and people dressed as civilians shuttled through it, and some of them were carrying sweet potato baskets.

Of course Jung Hae-joo was happy.

When Juniper was in Shanhaiguan, when he put his old qualifications in front of her, the first sentence was to remind her to solve the problem of so many people eating.

Huang Zunsu, who has experience in local politics, and Ma Xianglin, who has experience in raising soldiers, also regard this as a top priority.

Especially Ma Xianglin, because he is also an old friend, he doesn't need to leave his greetings, and at this moment, he directly took over the conversation between the two and said: "However, just eating sweet potatoes is not enough." Azhu, if there is not enough grain in the fields around the Luan River, the staple grain in the Daning area has to be transported in by merchants. ”

"That's right, if the trade route is accessible, people will not starve to death," Zheng Haizhu pointed to Zhang Yanke standing beside him, "Zhejiang merchants like the third prince, and Jin merchants like Chang Gongzi, pile up silver, cotton cloth, silk, and tea to Daning, and the grain merchants will naturally gather over and exchange grain for silver." If the price of grain is stable, the salary in the hands of the sergeants should be enough to exchange for food to support their families. However, if it becomes the second Zhangjiakou, it also means that it will become the target of Tartars like sharks sniffing blood and rushing to raid. ”

Zheng Haizhu said this, looking at Zhu Youzhen, who was looking left and right, with a fresh face.

Zhu Youzhen realized that Zheng Haizhu was talking to himself, and hurriedly responded: "The master is right, if the Holy Admiral Gu changes this place, Gu must keep an eye on Dongyi." ”

Huang Zunsu and Ma Xianglin were originally surprised that King Xin also came together, and they were even more surprised when they heard Zhu Youzhen's words.

After a brief surprise, it was a surprise.

Daning is not comparable to those rice-rich vassal states in the south, and it is impossible for the Son of Heaven and the imperial court to be counted. If Zhu Youzhen, whose status is second only to the crown prince, becomes the state of Daning, it will inevitably mean that there will be some money and property flowing over from the household department and even the inner treasury of the Son of Heaven.

These five princes were taught by Zheng Haizhu, and now it seems that they respect their teachers, so they shouldn't be as mediocre as King Fu, right?

However, Ma Xianglin, who had held a reception banquet and returned to the house, turned black when he heard his wife Zhang Fengyi relay what Mrs. Zheng had taken time to talk to her during the day.

"Feng Yi, not to mention that the two children are nine years apart, just look at the vassal kings of his old Zhu family, which one is not a bunch of concubines? My Ma Xianglin's baby daughter, what good person can't marry? If I can't pick a good one, I will raise her for the rest of my life, why should I let her serve the clan? ”

Ma Xianglin is like many destined fathers-in-law in this world, when it comes to his future son-in-law, that face is even more ugly than a defeat.