"Uh...... Whew......"

In the small bedroom, there was a smell of medicine and the groaning sound of the bed at the moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the stepping bed, which was only three or five steps away from him, but felt in his heart that this distance was even farther than from the Forbidden City to here.

But he didn't have time to hesitate, he took a stool and walked to the stepping bed, and sat down on the ground.

At this time, he saw Fu Youde lying in the bed.

The last time they met was three years ago, and although Fu Youde was sixty-seven years old at the time, he looked like he was only fifty-four or five.

It's just that at the moment, his whole body is so thin that his cheeks are sunken, and there are many dark and brown spots on his face.

He didn't open his eyes, and lay down on the bed, his brow furrowed slightly, and his face wore a tired and helpless expression, as if he was feeling unwell from the pain.

His lips were chapped and pale purple, suggesting that his strength had reached its limit.

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze, he coughed lightly from time to time, coughing with heavy breathing, making people feel that his body was going through a severe challenge.

"Weixue, I've come to see you......"

Looking at Fu Youde's appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth with a complicated expression, and when he opened his mouth, Fu Youde opened his eyes painfully.

He only glanced at it, but it was enough to confirm that the person in front of him was Zhu Yuanzhang.

"I'm going to die......"

Fu Youde's voice was heavy, and his breathing was like a broken bellows.

He didn't give Zhu Yuanzhang a chance to interject, even if every word he says now takes a lot of effort:

"Die... It's okay if you don't give it...... Don't cause any trouble......"

In just a few words, a lot of fine sweat appeared on Fu Youde's forehead, which can be described as difficult.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't interrupt, just sat quietly, looking at Fu Youde with his head down.

Gao Xu...... Gao Xu's boy...... Come... Are you coming......"

"Outside the house, you can come in at any time." Zhu Yuanzhang replied to his words, and when Fu Youde heard this, the expression full of pain on his face also showed a relieved smile, although it was short-lived.

"Don't be embarrassed...... Embarrassed by the ...... of the Venerable Master"

Before leaving, Fu Youde did not count Zhu Yuanzhang's injustice to him, but used his remaining physical strength to arrange the aftermath as much as possible.

Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand to hold his dry hand, but Fu Youde didn't hold it as tightly as him.

Regardless of whether he has no strength or not, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart is always a little uncomfortable at this moment.

"Let them ...... Come in......"

Dragging his painful body, Fu Youde cheered up again and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not refuse, he let go of Fu Youde's hand, got up and walked out.

When the door opened, he saw Zhu Gaoxu, who had been waiting for a long time, and the children of the Fu family with various expressions behind him.

"Let's go inside, I'll be waiting for you in the main hall......"

Zhu Yuanzhang explained a word to Zhu Gaoxu, and then walked out past everyone.

Even though many people in the middle looked at him, he didn't look back, even if there was ill evil in his eyes, but he didn't pay attention to it after all.

He went out, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked into the bedroom with his legs raised.

After him, Fu Zhong and Fu Rang walked in with the two dolls Fu Rong and Fu Yu respectively, followed by the ladies of the Fu family.

In the sound of heavy breathing, Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what kind of emotion he walked into the stepping bed, and when he got closer, he saw Fu Youde at the moment.

He is no longer the fierce veteran, but like an old and wounded tiger, lying quietly, waiting for the end of his life.

Fu Zhong and Fu Rang followed in with the two dolls, Fu Rong and Fu Yu, because the space next to the bed was too small and it was a little crowded.

"Daddy......"

Fu Zhong knelt in front of the stepping bed with Fu Rong in his arms and called Fu Youde softly, Fu Rang saw that Fu Youde did not respond, and hurriedly asked Fu Yu in his arms to call Grandpa.

"Grandpa!"

Fu Yu didn't know what life and death was, so he just called his grandfather as usual.

His "grandpa" woke Fu Youde up, against the physical pain, Fu Youde slowly opened his eyes, he smiled when he saw Fu Rong Fu Yu, but soon forced his glance up, until he saw Zhu Gaoxu, he closed his eyes with satisfaction.

"That kid ......"

As if he wanted to keep his image that he was not so weak, Fu Youde shouted with a smile, and Zhu Gaoxu also knelt down when he saw this: "Guogong ......"

"What do you say......" Fu Youde said bitterly, "What do you think......

Fu Youde's words made everyone confused, they didn't understand whether Fu Youde was talking about Zhu Gaoxu speaking for them, or something else they didn't know.

Not only them, but Zhu Gaoxu himself didn't know, so he was very worried.

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's anxious appearance, Fu Youde forcibly moved his palm: "That's it...... Don't involve my family...... Come in......"

When the words fell, Fu Youde closed his eyes in pain and breathed heavily.

"Let's all go out......" Looking at his father's appearance, Fu Zhong hugged the child in his arms to the female relatives behind him, and motioned for everyone to go out.

Zhu Gaoxu also stood up, he knew that Fu Youde didn't want to let himself see his embarrassed appearance, so he followed everyone out of the courtyard.

He didn't continue to stay in the backyard for a long time, because there were too many women in the backyard, and it was inconvenient for him to be an outsider, and he didn't want to stay in a crowded place now.

Everything seemed to be as arranged by Lao Zhu, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the main hall in the front yard, and saw Lao Zhu sitting in front of a brazier to roast the fire.

A chair was prepared next to him, and Zhu Gaoxu walked over and sat down, silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't ask Fu Youde what he said to him, but just used the tongs in his hand to carry the coal in the brazier.

He sat like this, staring at the burning coals in the brazier, without saying a word.

The grandfather and grandson were silent with each other like this, and I don't know how long it took, but in the end, Zhu Yuanzhang broke the deadlock.

"I was going to send him away, so that you could cut off your ties with the people in this house......"

As soon as he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu looked at him in astonishment, but in the face of his grandson's gaze, Zhu Yuanzhang's face was still flat.

He added a few pieces of coal with tongs, and continued: "Just think about it, you are my grandson after all, so this is too cruel to you and the people in this house......

After getting the coal, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and looked at Zhu Gaoxu, there was no sadness or joy in his eyes, like a bottomless pool of water.

Lao Zhu's words reminded Zhu Gaoxu of Fu Youde's words just now.

For this group of people who came out of the group of heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, they didn't know Zhu Gaoxu's careful thoughts, but Lao Zhu couldn't bear it, and Fu Youde was helpless.

Zhu Gaoxu always felt that Lao Zhu was using Fu Youde, but he himself was not.

"Yun Wei is right, it's time for you to go." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu, and seemed to reacquaint himself with his grandson.

"Grandson ......" Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, but he didn't know where to start, and finally he could only say: "Grandson has never had the idea of driving this master, just the art of war of the old prince." ”

has obviously been exposed, but Zhu Gaoxu still denies it.

Looking at his denial, Lao Zhu did not pursue it, but took a deep breath: "Whatever you want......"

Maybe he felt that Zhu Gaochu drove the local capital behind the Yingguo Mansion not to move, or he already had a way to solve the faction of the Yingguo Mansion in the local capital, in short, Lao Zhu did not force Zhu Gaochu to ask, but changed his tone:

"After the beginning of spring, the palace will send you a will, what do you want, it's best to tell me now, but before I say it, I have to tell you ...... first"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu directly, at this moment he is no longer Zhu Gaoxu's grandfather, but the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

"Yesterday your father sent the news that there was a civil strife in Warat in Mobei, their Great Khan was killed, Warat and Tatar reached a compromise in Kulan Huan, and the two tribes jointly supported the second son of the former Yuan Emperor to buy Libala (Erleboke) as the Great Khan."

"This time, the position of the Great Khan of the Northern Captives was retaken from the descendants of Ali Buge, and the restoration of Kublai Khan's lineage is thought to pose a threat to the northern frontier of the imperial court."

"I asked you to go to the Jilin Shipyard not to exile, but to ask you to solve Xiyangha to me, and then appease the Jurchens in Haixi and Donghai, and don't let them fall to Wuliangha."

"In addition, I also want you to prepare borders with King Ning and King Liao, and don't let Wuliangha go south, so that your father can guard against the northern captives in Mobei with peace of mind."

Kublai Khan was restored, which Zhu Gaoxu did not expect.

Since Emperor Tianyuan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty fled to Moxi after being defeated by Lan Yu in the Yuer Sea, and then was attacked and killed by Ali Buge's descendants, the throne of the Mongolian Great Khan fell to Ali Buge's lineage, and it has only been six years since the calculation of time.

In just six years, the Khan throne actually returned to the line of Kublai Khan.

Such an alternation of power will definitely have an impact on the Ming Dynasty.

Speaking of the Khan court alone, when the Khan was in the hands of the descendants of Ali Buge, the political center of the Northern Yuan Dynasty moved westward to the sphere of influence of the descendants of the original Ali Buge, and most of the original Tianyuan Emperor's subordinates were also forcibly relocated to the Warat region of Western Mongolia.

Now that the power has been reversed and the Khan has returned to the line of Kublai Khan, the newly succeeded Khan King will definitely find a way to move the Khan's court back to Kulan and Huwan, or even back to the Hairaer River in Mengdong's hometown.

These things are all things that Zhu Yuanzhang needs to consider, so he needs Zhu Di to be at ease in Kaiping to guard the border and guard against the Mongols in Mobei.

Although Zhu Gaoxu did not know much about the history of the Northern Yuan, he remembered that the Northern Yuan Dynasty broke out in the late Hongwu period, causing Benjamin, a descendant of Kublai Khan, to flee to the Timurid Empire.

After Timur's death, Benjamin fled to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate with his identity as a "Yuan descendant", and later was able to return to Mobei with the support of some nobles of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

Regarding what he did to become the Great Khan after returning to Mobei, Zhu Gaoxu has not read the historical materials in this regard, but what he can be sure of is that after Benjamin became the Great Khan, the Mongols invaded the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty on a large scale, and then made Zhu Di make up his mind to go north.

The time span in between is about ten years.

In the past ten years, the Mongols may have also invaded the Ming Frontier, but the scale should not be large, otherwise Zhu Gaoxu should be able to remember.

Since the scale is not large, it means that the north side is extremely stable, and I went to Jilin Shipyard to pick up a leak.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also thought carefully about the promise that Lao Zhu said.

Starting from Jilin Shipyard, this is what Zhu Gaoxu did not expect, he originally thought that it would be the Kaipingwei mentioned by Lao Zhu before, but he didn't want to directly cross more than 2,000 miles and throw himself to Jilin in the northeast.

He knows the situation in Jilin very well, compared with Kaipingwei as the capital of Yuanshang, the situation of Jilin Shipyard is much worse, and all the foundations are equivalent to white land, and he can only rely on the Liaodong Metropolitan Division to help.

Zhu Gaoxu wants to emigrate, but for the current Jilin shipyard, it used to be a burden to immigrate now, and he had to consider this.

"Jilin Shipyard has dozens of boats, more than 1,300 military craftsman households, more than 6,000 people, but only more than 2,000 acres of land......"

Zhu Gaochu told the situation of the Jilin shipyard like a treasure, and Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised by this, because he knew that Zhu Gaochu could almost never forget it.

"The family of Jilin Shipyard is thin and the pressure it is facing is great, which is why I sent you there."

Zhu Yuanzhang said his reason, Zhu Gaoxu also pondered, and after a few breaths, he continued:

"There are few soldiers in Jilin Shipyard, I need 300 single craftsmen of all kinds, and 1,000 soldiers who can go to Jilin Shipyard with me."

"In addition, I also need three hundred Qin horses, and twenty of the big food stallions sent by Timur last time."

"Jilin Shipyard is bitterly cold and has a long winter, so I have to prepare enough grain to eat for a year, so that I can send troops to encircle and suppress Xiyang at any time."

"In addition, I am not very familiar with the Jurchens of Haixi and Donghai, so I need a Jurchen eunuch under my grandfather, and the eunuch is called Yishuha."

He quickly said what he needed, but in the face of his request, Lao Zhu bargained:

"Three hundred single craftsmen of all kinds can give it to you, but not firearms, you can draw up a note for me to read."

"A thousand soldiers is too much, give you five hundred at most."

"There are not so many idle Qin horses, at most two hundred can be transferred to you, and another three hundred horses can be added to you, as for the stallion of the big food, I can give you twenty."

"For the last grain, I will ask the Liaodong Metropolitan Division to transport enough food for you to eat for a year at one time after the snow melts every spring, but it will only be rationed according to the number of people on the shipyard's books."

"As for that slave, tomorrow I will let him move out of the palace and go to your courtyard, and the slips and things you need can also be circulated to me by him."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his grandson was not a good man, and if he let go of the grain article, I am afraid that he would immigrate through some means, or recruit Yiding.

In this way, if you promise to prepare enough food for him for a year, I am afraid that he will snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

"Good" Zhu Gaoxu didn't bargain, because he knew that Lao Zhu was always guarding against himself, even if it was difficult to make the Jilin Shipyard bigger.

But even so, he still looked at the courtyard gate: "Grandson wants Yulin Zuowei to be a hundred households." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang did not agree directly, but looked down at the brazier: "If they are willing to go with you, then it will be approved." ”

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, just nodded.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Lao Zhu asked, "In your hand, you still hold the mine map from other places." ”

"Not yet, I have to go back and look at the ancient books to find out......" Zhu Gaoxu naturally would not admit it, because he still can't complete the Japanese mining map.

"Well......" Seeing him say this, Zhu Yuanzhang bowed his head, and asked after a moment of silence: "What are you going to do when you go to Jilin Shipyard." ”

I don't know why, today's Zhu Yuanzhang talked so much that even he felt a little annoyed, but he couldn't help asking.

Regarding his inquiry, Zhu Gaoxu briefly sorted out his thoughts:

"You need to go to know how to do it, but you probably have to go and reorganize the soldiers, reclaim the wasteland, and build weirs, dams, and canals to irrigate the farmland."

"The spring planting at the Jilin shipyard is in April, and I rushed to Nanjing after the spring start, and I should be able to arrive in late February."

"After finishing the spring planting, my grandson is going to let Yishiha lead the troops to contact some small units of the Haixi Jurchens, obtain the specific location of the Xiyang Ha station, and find out the geometry of his troops and the number of soldiers."

"When these are discovered, the grandson will train well and wait to clean up the Xiyang Hananu chieftain."

Zhu Gaoxu is very organized about how to govern Jilin Shipyard, which Zhu Yuanzhang is very satisfied with, and he also has some thoughts about him leaving the Jilin Shipyard.

However, after the grandfather and grandson finished talking about this topic, they were both silent again.

They sat here not only to talk about things, but also to wait for a piece of news that they had to wait for, even though it was something they didn't want to see.

The wait was torturous, Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the tongs again, absentmindedly fiddling with the coal in the brazier, looking at the coal that was burning red, and didn't know what he was thinking.

Compared with him, Zhu Gaoxu is also shifting his attention, and he has shifted his attention to how to develop the Jilin shipyard.

He didn't know how to make a steam engine, nor did he know how to make smokeless gunpowder, breech guns and other military weapons, so if he really wanted to start with Jilin Shipyard, he had to rely on his current knowledge to plan the Jilin Shipyard so that it could support a team of his own.

In his knowledge, the Ming Dynasty was an era of traditional agricultural economy, and the geography and climate of the Northeast region had two major disadvantages for him.

The first is that the local winter is long, the acres of land can only be harvested once a year, the cultivation period is short, and the seasonal utilization rate of cultivated land is low.

Based on his understanding of Jilin in later generations, the winter in Jilin in later generations is generally from the beginning of October of the lunar calendar to the beginning of March of the second year, which is cold for four to five months a year, and the coldest time can reach minus twenty or thirty degrees.

The average temperature in later generations was higher than now, so Jilin in this era was colder, and the winter period would be longer, possibly reaching six months, that is, half of the year was in the winter period.

This is a great natural obstacle to his desire to develop the agriculture of Jilin Shipyard, and the only crops he can cultivate are corn, wheat, and soybeans, and rice needs to be tested to see if it can be planted.

These were the first problems he had to face.

As for the second problem, the local water conservancy facilities in Northeast China are seriously insufficient, and the local drought and flood control capacity is extremely weak, and it is very easy to destroy an agricultural organization.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that during the Xiaoice Age at the end of the Ming Dynasty, floods broke out in the northeast due to climate problems, many Jurchen tribes' farmland was destroyed, and Nurhachi also suffered many disasters, so he was forced to speed up the establishment of Jurchen unification.

Although the climate in the early Ming Dynasty was relatively stable, a perfect water conservancy facility was an absolute drought and flood guarantee for agricultural civilization.

Although Huining Road, where the Jilin shipyard is located, was a rich place in the Liaojin period, most of the local buildings have long disappeared with the Mongolian butcher's knives, and only some small stone forts that cannot be destroyed have been used by the remaining Jurchens in the Haixi and East China Seas to form small tribes.

If you want to ensure the harvest during droughts and floods, you must restore the local water conservancy facilities at the Jilin Shipyard, no matter how hard you work.

If you want to build weirs, dams and canals quickly, cement is essential.

As long as the above two factors can be solved, then you may be able to rely on Jilin Shipyard to start.

With confidence in his heart, Zhu Gaoxu was not so depressed.

"Come with me." As soon as Zhu Gaoxu figured out some of the key points, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't sit still and stood up.

Zhu Gaoxu got up and accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang for a walk in the front yard, and after just a few steps, Zhu Gaoxu thought of Fu Youde in the backyard again.

He very much hoped that Fu Youde would get through, and hoped that this night was just a false alarm.

But whenever he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's back, he had to dispel this thought.

Fu Youde will not die today, but he will still die because of other things in the future, as long as his in-law relationship with Zhu Li is still there, he will always be involved in the quagmire of Zhu Li's contention for the throne.

Rather than being implicated in death, it is better to end everything now.

Although this is a bit cruel, this is the best ending for Fu Youde.

Maybe he understood this, so he said those words to himself just now.

As long as he dies, Lao Zhu will have a way to solve the problems left by him, and the people of the Fu family will be able to survive, and they can also retain their official positions and enjoy wealth and nobility.

It's just that in his opinion, he may have become the uneasy person who will cause trouble to his family in the future......

Zhu Gaoxu thought of Fu Youde's last sentence, and also thought of what Lao Zhu asked himself before.

Whether he wanted to take advantage of the Fu family or not, he knew better than anyone else, but he still lied.

After coming to Daming, he seems to have subtly become the kind of person he hates the most.

But what can he do, if he wants to live well, he can only survive in this way.

Here, he is not qualified to be himself, even if he is his grandfather as the emperor, he will encounter things that he can't help himself, let alone himself.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Lao Zhu's back, which was slightly rickety, and seemed to be carrying a very heavy thing on his shoulders.

He is indeed the emperor, but he, like himself, is unable to control himself many times.

Looking at the back, Zhu Gaoxu was silent.

He was about to say something, but then there was the sound of footsteps in the corridor behind him.

As soon as the voice appeared, their grandfather and grandson stopped in unison, and they both had a premonition in their hearts.

With that premonition, they turned their heads stiffly sideways, and what they saw was a member of the Yingguo Mansion who came with a lantern.

He didn't say much, and there was no sadness on his face, he just walked up to Zhu Yuanzhang and bowed down to his grandson.

"Your Majesty, Ying Guo Gong has ......"

(End of chapter)