In the warm wind and drizzle, Zhu Di got out of the carriage.

He was dressed in a dark color, his steps were calm but his expression was a little tired, and he was followed by the third prince Zhu Gaosui to hold an umbrella for him.

Jiang Xinghuo's mansion is not public, and the two ancient cypresses moved in front of the door bring a sense of historical heaviness precipitated over the years.

Hearing that the emperor was visiting, the middle door had already been opened, but Zhu Di was not in the mood and walked straight inside.

Although his steps are firm, every step is like stepping on clouds, and it is difficult to touch the ground.

The choice of the prince, which should have been a happy event for the royal family, became an unbearable burden in his heart.

Since Zhu Di ascended the throne for four years, although there is no shortage of internal and external knives, it cannot be called the peace of the country, but now with the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty in all aspects, it can be regarded as a preliminary appearance of prosperity, but the choice of the prince is like a boulder pressing on his heart. This is not only about which branch of the royal bloodline continues as the main vein, but also about the future peace of the Ming Dynasty.

Behind the door, Zhu Di waved his hand, signaling Jiang Xinghuo not to salute.

Then Zhu Di waved away the servant who poured the tea and closed the door to speak.

"I came today, not for the government, but for family affairs."

Zhu Di's anxiety is not hidden, it is almost visible to the naked eye.

A hint of clarity flashed in Jiang Xinghuo's eyes: "Now that Beizhili still has more than half a year to postpone, Your Majesty is worried, but is it the choice of the prince?" ”

Zhu Di nodded, and there was a hint of helplessness between his eyebrows: "All my sons are virtuous, but they have their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is difficult to choose." ”

Zhu Gaosui listened quietly on the side, but his heart was overturned.

The phrase "all sons are virtuous" is not without temptation for him, but Zhu Gaosui can still carry it clearly, if there is no way out of overseas feudal domains, then he must support the second brother Zhu Gaochu to compete for the prince, because he has always been close to the second brother, if the eldest brother becomes the prince, he will definitely have no good end, the domestic feudal domain is like this, the new emperor ascends the throne, whether he cuts the knight, whether he is banned or not, that is, a matter of one sentence.

But now that there is a way out and I can go overseas, it is natural to be comfortable to "leap with the sea and the sky is high and let the birds fly".

Even if there are any changes in the Ming Dynasty, he has troops and territory in his hands, and he is still far from the position, and the imperial court wants to cut the feudal domain by force, and he must weigh whether it will be dragged into the quagmire of the expedition.

Therefore, Zhu Gaosui still calmed down.

He knew that his father's words were actually testing Jiang Xinghuo's attitude.

In the two years since the three battalions of the Beijing camp left Nanjing, Jiang Xinghuo and Zhu Gaochi were responsible for the cumbersome government affairs and development policies of the entire empire, and with the process of administration and changes in the ideological circles, the newly promoted officials who supported the reform of the law have become the mainstream of fresh blood.

Imperial examinations, Daming Administrative School, Guozijian, and small officials were exceptionally promoted. These ways to become officials were basically mastered by the reformers.

Moreover, with the change of the economic structure, the trend of "mercantilism" disguised as "all the people" gradually spread to the gentry class.

Although there were some stubborn members of the gentry, many of them, especially those in the coastal prefectures, who saw the huge benefits of commerce and trade, said that they were opposed to the reform of the law, but in fact began to engage in trade in a half-concealed manner.

After all, although the income from land is stable, it is still not comparable to the lucrative overseas trade.

Therefore, there are more and more people who support the reform, and the stronger the reformers represented by Jiang Xinghuo and Zhu Gaochi will be.

Under this situation, although the old man who came from the Hongwu-Jianwen period still occupied the dominant position in the court, the foundation was hollowed out.

The most obvious thing is that the examinations and teachings of the political envoys, prefectures, and counties are basically based on the improved new ideas, and the status of Xunzi has been improved, and more practical ideas have been included in the scope of policy discussions.

In the long run, the reformers will inevitably replace the conservatives and become the de facto dominant force in the imperial court.

So in this case, whether the forces led by Jiang Xinghuo in the law change faction will be combined with military power, and then threaten the imperial power, is something that Zhu Di has to think about carefully.

Although Jiang Xinghuo is his most relied on minister, Jiang Xinghuo's opinion will undoubtedly have a significant impact on his decision-making, but he also knows that the other party also has its own position and interests, so can the other party's words be fully trusted?

"Your Majesty, I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Speak."

Jiang Xinghuo groaned slightly: "The choice of the prince is related to the country, and those who have both ability and political integrity should come first. ”

When Zhu Gaosui heard this, a trace of amazement flashed in his eyes, he knew that Jiang Xinghuo's words not only showed his attitude, but also gave Zhu Di a step down.

Zhu Di said slowly: "Having both ability and political integrity is easy to say, but difficult to do." Who among my children can take on this responsibility? ”

Jiang Xinghuo smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Shengming, naturally you can choose the most suitable candidate." No matter who is chosen as the prince, as long as it can maintain the stability of the Ming Dynasty, it is the best choice. ”

In the warm inner hall, Zhu Di tried his best to keep himself calm.

Jiang Xinghuo's every word was like a stone thrown into the lake, causing ripples.

Zhu Di knew that Jiang Xinghuo was hinting to himself that the choice of the prince should not only look at the surface, but also consider the long-term interests and the future of the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Xinghuo's words are not only to avoid risks, but also to point out the direction for himself.

What is Virtue? What is Cai?

For ordinary people, of course, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are virtues, and learning and being rich are talents.

If according to this standard, Zhu Gaochi is of course the most suitable candidate for the prince.

But for the royal family, this is not the case at all, and it can even be said that the opposite is true.

For the royal family, ruthlessness is virtue, and it is a talent to be able to level the world and rule the world when you get off the horse.

A monarch who is too forgiving is destined to be manipulated by his subordinates.

Re-translation: What does it mean to "maintain the stability of the Ming Dynasty"? Of course, it can continue Zhu Di's policy.

And Zhu Di's policy is to let the Ming Dynasty "rule the Tang and Song dynasties, and go far to the Han and Tang dynasties", to put it bluntly, it is actually four words - external expansion.

The means of developing the economy at home and changing the law are all used to support external expansion and provide financial resources for the expansion areas.

So it is conceivable that if the two sons succeed to the throne one day, it will definitely be the second son Zhu Gaoxu who can continue Zhu Di's policy more, because he is a soldier, and behind him is a group of nobles and military ministers, and the interests of this group are naturally inclined to expand abroad.

So Jiang Xinghuo seems to be just a simple two sentences, impartial and without showing his attitude, but in fact, he said everything.

Zhu Di said: "Today's conversation with the national teacher has benefited me a lot. I will consider the choice of the prince carefully. ”

But Zhu Di did not leave, but immediately asked another question.

"Then if the eldest prince becomes the prince, how should the national teacher deal with himself?"

Zhu Di's eyes were firmly fixed on the look on Jiang Xinghuo's face.

Jiang Xinghuo did not hesitate, and simply said: "Your Majesty is at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the change will always continue, this is not a problem I should consider now." ”

Zhu Di finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Regardless of whether Jiang Xinghuo's words were sincere or false, Zhu Di's vigilance was greatly reduced.

Because what Jiang Xinghuo said was right.

Although Zhu Di is middle-aged, his body is very strong, and it is probably not a problem to live for another twenty years.

Therefore, no matter who was the prince during Zhu Di's reign, Jiang Xinghuo did the same thing, that is, to firmly implement the reform until it was completely successful, until the interests of the vast majority of the people in the Ming Dynasty were consistent with the change, so that the change could never be overthrown.

From this point of view, Zhu Gaochu or Zhu Gaochi, no matter who becomes the prince, actually has some benefits for changing the law.

If Zhu Gaoxu becomes the prince, it will definitely be more beneficial in continuing the policy of foreign expansion; And if Zhu Gaochi becomes the prince, it will also be beneficial to use his ability in internal affairs to continue to expand and change the law in domestic affairs. At least Zhu Gaochi's current basic plate also has a lot of law changes, even if Zhu Di is gone, Zhu Gaochi is unlikely to push the law change completely, it is only possible to deny Jiang Xinghuo and continue to change the law, just like the rulers of previous dynasties did.

But Jiang Xinghuo's answer made Zhu Di's mood even heavier.

Zhu Di turned his head and looked at the gray sky outside the inner hall of Jiang Xinghuo's mansion, his heart was full of helplessness.

He thinks he is a wise lord, but on the question of the choice of the prince, he feels helpless like never before, he hopes that someone can tell him the answer, but he also knows that this is an impossible luxury, and now the people he can consult have given their own answers, and the final decision, only he can do.

But Zhu Di also knows that no matter who he chooses as the prince, some people will be happy and some will be worried, and it may even cause a serious temple turmoil.

How did the Xuanwumen change come about? To put it bluntly, isn't Li Shimin unwilling to let Li Jiancheng be the prince.

There is no doubt that emotionally speaking, Zhu Di prefers to be like his second prince Zhu Gaochu, Zhu Gaochu and him are not only father and son, but also the Paoze brothers who live and die together, and it is also the Jingyan War, Zhu Gaochi has a merit in the preparation and logistics of defending the city in the rear, but this credit is definitely not comparable to Zhu Gaochu's decisive charge. Baigou River, Gaocheng, Jiahe, Lingbi, if Zhu Gaoxu had not relied on his own courage to break the formation, the Yan army would have really lost, and the key generals of the Southern Army who were beheaded by Zhu Gaoxu alone were no less than ten.

In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, because the Battle of Jingyan was a civil war in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the deliberate distortion of the civilian official group and the penmanship of the Spring and Autumn Period, the records of many battles seriously deviated from the facts, often "A gust of wind blew, and the Yan army won", which lifted Zhu Di to the same mysterious situation as the great demon master Liu Xiu.

In fact, it was not easy for the Yan army to win at all, almost every battle was staked with all their net worth, and the southern army still continued to win so many battles, while the Yan army lost a battle of Dongchang and was almost carried away.

The gold content of the Battle of Jingyan may not be completely comparable to that of Hongwu in the chaotic era at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but if we do not make a longitudinal comparison on the historical line, and only make a horizontal comparison during the same period, then the general battle of hundreds of thousands of people that occurred during the same period, whether it is the Battle of Ankara or the Battle of Fort Niko, can hardly be compared with the large-scale battle in the Battle of Jingnan.

And intellectually speaking, the current Zhu Gaochu is no longer the brainless and reckless man, not only can he break away from the role of "pioneer" or "captain of the death squad" and become a general who can take charge of himself, but also has his own understanding of governing government affairs, perhaps far inferior to Zhu Gaochi, but it is no longer his shortcoming.

The short board has been made up, but the long board is longer, in other words, you are Zhu Di, how do you choose?

As the ruler of a huge empire, Zhu Di's biggest concern for his successor is whether his policies can be continued after his death.

Zhu Gaochi became the emperor, and perhaps the internal affairs part of the reform will continue down the slope, but the external part will obviously not continue to implement the expansion policy like the ambitious Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaoxu, on the other hand, has no doubt that he will choose to obey the interests of the noble and military affairs group and continue to expand abroad.

And in Zhu Di's heart, he actually had the answer for a long time.

What does that mean? When you flip a coin, you actually know your choice.

Regarding the selection of the prince, Zhu Di has already understood Jiang Xinghuo's opinion, and then, the two chatted about domestic government affairs in the past two years.

"King Zhou wrote to me a while ago, saying that he already has a general idea about the cultivation of medicine and the compilation of medical books."

When Jiang Xinghuo heard this, his eyebrows also showed a look of joy: "This is the blessing of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Zhu Di smiled slightly, and his smile revealed a hint of pride and pride.

"When Emperor Taizu Gao was alive, he once joked that if we were born in an ordinary family, I could go to be a soldier, and my younger brother could go to practice medicine, each with his own strengths, and he didn't have to dig in the soil to eat, and after all, he wouldn't starve to death like my grandfather's generation."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and continued: "If this matter is successful, it will have a far-reaching impact on the improvement of the medical condition of the entire Ming Dynasty, and even the reform of the social welfare system. ”

Economic progress is the basis for expanding the scope of social security, and the court has money to better support the vulnerable groups such as widows, widows and loneliness.

The current social support system of the Ming Dynasty was completely inherited from the Song and Yuan dynasties, so there is no problem in the care and resettlement of the elderly, the homeless, and the nameless dead, and there is not much need to expand the scale, while medicine is completely different.

Now the medical halls around the country are based on the local situation for the procurement of medicinal materials, and if the experiment of Zhou Wang's centralized cultivation of medicine can prove feasible, then in this new era, the centralized cultivation of medicine will make the quality of medicinal materials be controlled, the quantity has been greatly improved, and the compilation of medical books will bring together the essence of medicine in the world, escort the health of the people.

The reason why Chinese medicine is more convincing the older you are, in addition to experience, many old Chinese medicine practitioners have ancestral secret recipes, which is also an important reason.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pays attention to symptomatic treatment, so it is obviously unrealistic for doctors of different levels to face patients with different conditions, even if the symptoms are similar on the surface, and the prescriptions they give are often different.

However, this does not mean that it is meaningless to compile and summarize TCM classics.

The reason is also very simple, under the current conditions of transportation and communication, even the highest level of doctors can never grasp the entire content of medical books, and even know one or two percent, they can already be called knowledgeable famous doctors.

Therefore, it is very necessary to compile medical books.

Although TCM cannot give a strict standard, it can pre-set several "standard answers" for more general situations according to different symptoms and cases.

In this way, when facing some common diseases of the common people, even if the doctor is not qualified enough, he will not be at a loss, as long as he prescribes the right medicine according to the medical books printed by the imperial court, the probability of curing the person must be much worse than the situation of curing the person. Of course, everyone's physique cannot be generalized, and even if it is a prescription that is close to the "standard answer", the effect will be different for different people.

This is the meaning of the collection of medical books.

"King Zhou's move is indeed very good."

Zhu Di's words are full of expectations for the future, and there is even some love for the people under his rule, which is inevitable, the ass decides the head, and now that Zhu Di has been the emperor for four years, his mentality has completely changed.

Zhu Di is very clear that the strength of the Ming Dynasty lies not only in the vastness of the territory and the strength of the Ming army, but also in the support of the people for him, bringing a better life to the people and reducing the burden of the people, so it must be of great benefit to his rule.

After all, except for people like Yao Guangxiao, which serious person lives and works in peace and contentment, has food and clothing, and still ponders rebellion?

Therefore, Zhu Di actually has high hopes for the development of Daming's pharmaceutical industry, hoping that through these measures, he will create a better future for the people of Daming in terms of health issues.

The people of the Ming Dynasty have a healthy body, and laughter and laughter echo in every corner; The doctors held a unified standard of medical books in their hands, relieved the pain of the people, and everyone's faces were filled with satisfaction and happiness. Even a war maniac like Zhu Di is very satisfied when he thinks of this kind of picture.

There is the joy of fighting a war, and there is also the joy of farming.

"That's right."

Zhu Di suddenly changed his words: "There should be nothing to do here in Nanjing, the national teacher can arrange the task at hand, go to Beijing after a while, the change of the law in Beizhili, and the planning and guidance of the national teacher will be passed by Henan at that time, go to Kaifeng to meet King Zhou, and see if the matter of medicine and medical books can be preliminarily decided." ”

Zhu Di's words made Jiang Xinghuo a little surprised, although it was nominally reasonable, but the meaning of Zhu Di's words couldn't be more obvious.

- This is the referee is embarrassed to pull the off-frame and let him go to the final sprint.

From the perspective of the two princes, there must be this meaning, but there is no problem on the surface, Jiang Xinghuo has been organizing and changing the law in Nanzhili for so many years, and he can't completely ignore Beizhili, right?

"Also, Zhu Youjiao came back with Zheng He this time, he hasn't seen his father (King Zhou) for a few years, let him go north with you as a guard this time, so let's meet in Kaifeng."

Pity the parents of the world, if it was before, Zhu Di would not care about this matter, but now Zhu Di inevitably cares about his younger brother's housework.

Zhu Youjiao, a little brute, is a bastard, but seven or eight years have passed, and King Zhou's anger is almost gone, and he can't write two Zhu characters in one stroke, and the family can't always not meet like the enemy.

And Zhu Youjiao has followed Zheng He overseas over the years, and he has indeed made a lot of contributions, in the three generations of the clan, they are all relatively eye-catching existences, and Zhu Di also intends to promote him, so that more children of the clan should not be raised pigs, but come out to do more things and make contributions.

But Zhu Youjiao really annoyed his family, so Zhu Di made an excuse for him, asked him to be Jiang Xinghuo's guard, and asked Jiang Xinghuo to talk to King Zhou about medicine and medical books, so that the meeting between father and son was logical.

"Also, I will talk carefully about the progress of the Yellow River, and I will have to ask about it in detail in the future."

In fact, since the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River has always been a huge hidden danger for the people of the Central Plains, and after the Jingkang disaster, the Jin State ruled the north and also did not pay much attention to the governance of the Yellow River, and it was even more so in the Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols.

Therefore, the Yellow River is like an untamed yellow dragon that no one can tame, and once it reaches the rainy season, the Yellow River is easy to flood.

To a large extent, the Yuan Dynasty can be said to have been crushed to death by the last straw that broke the camel's back by the governance of the Yellow River.

When Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, the Yellow River still seized the Huai into the sea, and the hidden dangers were still great, but Zhu Di did not have the financial and manpower to control the Yellow River at that time, at most it was to rectify the floods in the south of the Yangtze River and keep the important grain producing areas.

However, Jiang Xinghuo, Xia Yuanji, Song Li and others have accumulated rich experience and manpower for the management of floods in the south of the Yangtze River.

Last year, that is, in the third year of Yongle, as domestic trade and foreign maritime trade brought in more than expected fiscal revenues, the household department not only borrowed money from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, but also had a surplus, so with the help of the "Yellow River Treasury Bonds," it had the necessary funds to harness the Yellow River.

Another reason why we are in such a hurry and don't wait any longer is Caoyun.

Zhang Xin was removed from the post of governor of Caoyun, but the problem of Caoyun was even more serious in addition to the greed for ink.

Because of the construction of the north, so a lot of materials need to be transported by water, not all by sea, the reason here is very simple. The fall of the Yuan Dynasty is not far away, and the Ming Dynasty does not want to abolish Cao Yun all at once, so that another one-eyed stone man comes.

The Grand Canal, which runs through the north and south, as the economic artery on which the north and south depend, stretches for thousands of miles across five provinces, connecting the five major water systems of the Haihe River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River, and the most complex of them is the intersection node of the Grand Canal and the Yellow River.

The problem is that it is the river prime minister who manages the river; The person in charge of Caoyun is the Governor of Caoyun.

The Yamen of the Prime Minister of the River is located in Jining, Shandong, and the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun is located in Huai'an, Jiangsu, and the two places are separated by thousands of miles, and it is extremely inconvenient for them to communicate with each other, and it takes more than 10 days for the messenger to run back and forth, and there is a conflict of interest between each other, and the two yamen often kick each other's balls.

There is no doubt that this will certainly not be able to control the Yellow River.

Because the prerequisite for the management of the Yellow River is to have an institution that can allocate all resources and coordinate all the yamen.

And Zhang Xin, the Marquis of Longping, who was extremely authoritarian, was also removed from the position of governor of Caoyun because of the Qingtian incident, which was a prerequisite for the establishment of a new organization.

To this end, Jiang Xinghuo and Zhu Gaochi held a meeting to discuss and discuss the plan, and after inviting Zhu Di outside, they temporarily established the governor of Hecao, and added the title of right deputy imperial envoy of the Imperial Palace.

And the candidate is Song Li, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites who has rich experience in the process of water control in the south of the Yangtze River.

In this way, Song Li had the power to coordinate the provinces, allocate resources in a unified manner, and be able to impeach all officials who did not cooperate with the work of harnessing the Yellow River.

The main force of the river workers was served by the reserve army, and at the same time, some people along the river were recruited for a fee.

Sharpening knives and cutting wood, Song Li began in the third year of Yongle and took Ye Zongxing and other experts in water control, dam building, blasting and other aspects to the Yellow River valley to inspect the terrain and specific hydrological conditions, and traveled to dozens of prefectures and counties along the river, basically grasping the current situation of the Yellow River.

Subsequently, Song Li formulated a comprehensive and phased plan for river control, according to the "water and sand flushing method" taught by Jiang Xinghuo, and at the same time, the reinforced concrete with greatly increased production was used as the main dam building material.

"If you want to go deep into the north, then the south is its embankment and the north is deep; If you want to go deep into the south, you should go deep in the north and the south from the south; If you want to go deep, then the north and south embankments are bundled together, rushing to the middle, and the middle is deep. ”

Jiang Xinghuo's formula, Song Li is already familiar with it.

Therefore, relying on the four embankment technology of "main embankment, remote embankment, silt embankment, and inner embankment", Song Li resolutely implemented Jiang Xinghuo's plan for the management of the Yellow River, that is, first reset the old outlet in the lower reaches of the sea, and then carry out vegetation restoration in the middle and upper reaches. However, the latter requires a long period of persistence, and because of the Xiaoice River period, even if it is carried out, the effect may not be very obvious, it is a century-old plan, and it is urgent.

As an expert in water control, Song Li knows very well that this is the turning point of his career, as long as the Yellow River can be managed well, then the best result is naturally to be promoted to the Ministry of Industry, to reach the top of the people, and the worst result is also to be transferred to the Ministry of Industry as a left waiter, and then promoted to the Ministry of Industry in a few years.

Of course, if he messes up the work of harnessing the Yellow River and the Yellow River bursts again, there is no need to think about any Shangshu, it is better to think about where he will go to exile and live more comfortably.

In short, it's a high-risk, high-reward thing.

Through a year's efforts, the overall progress of the project has been completed by 40 percent, and more than 100,000 zhang of earth embankments have been built, more than 5,000 zhang of stone embankments have been built, and concrete embankments in the core area have more than 1,000 zhang, and hundreds of various gaps in the Yellow River embankment have been successfully blocked.

Next, there is the project to direct the Yellow River to the old estuary of Shandong and Hebei.

After listening to Jiang Xinghuo's narration, Zhu Di also expressed his approval of Song Li's action to control the river, this work is indeed done by the reincarnation of a mule, and it is a big head to think about.

"Since the control of the Yellow River is the preliminary plan of the national teacher, then when you arrive in Jining, the national teacher will supervise it along the way."

Zhu Di's words and other words mean to put down the things at hand and hurry north, or the progress of North Zhili is afraid that it will be too late, if the data is not as good as South Zhili, then Zhu Di even if he wants to establish Zhu Gaoxu as the prince, I am afraid he can't say it, after all, Zhu Di has no face to play tricks on this, he is the emperor, he has to have face.

Therefore, the only one who can give Zhu Gaoxu strong support is Jiang Xinghuo.

(End of chapter)