"Sigh the law ......"

"Wow... Wow... Wow......"

At noon, when the sound of messy horses' hooves sounded on the road, along with the crows in the sky.

It is now the twentieth day of the first lunar month, and on the way back to the north, Zhu Gaoxu crossed the Bohai Strait by boat and successfully landed at the ferry port of the Zhongzuo Institute in Jinzhou.

Since it is still early spring, most of the coastal waters of Liaodong are covered with ice, and the thick ice layer that has submerged into the sea from the shallows is a scene that Zhu Gaoxu could hardly see in his previous life.

Of course, compared to the tragic situation of Zhongzuo, this natural scene could not attract his attention at all.

The Central Left Office of Jinzhou was the target of looting by the Japanese invaders in October last year.

Although more than three months have passed, the ruins outside the center and left are still eye-catching.

In the vast white snow outside the center-left office, Zhu Gaoxu and others passing by could clearly see many burned and blackened collapsed ruins.

In the snow, the military households who took over from the center left dug a road.

The snow and mud make the road very muddy, and there are many traces of knives and axes on the stone fort in front of you.

The soldiers stationed here wore the new padded jackets issued by the Governor's Office during the Chinese New Year, but even so, they rarely saw smiles on their faces.

Almost everyone's eyes looked at the dock where Zhu Gaoxu and the others came, and their vigilant appearance was as if thousands of would-be wouldn't be there in the next second.

Looking at everything around him, even the iron man couldn't help but be silent, and Zhu Gaoxu and them were no exception.

Under the guidance of Zhu Gaoxu, a group of more than 200 people walked to the gate of the Zhongzuo Institute, where a thousand-household official wearing armor was already waiting.

"Wu Cheng, the official of the Thousand Households of the Left Office of Jinzhou Weizhong, knock on the King of Bohai!"

As the officials of the thousands of households opened their mouths to salute, dozens of military households and hundreds of officials around them were ready to kneel, but they were stopped by Zhu Gaoxu:

"No need to kneel, let's get some dry food and leave." After that, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes signaled that he was also lost, and he immediately rode his horse to the end of the team, and called three carriages from the rear of the team.

He took the carriage into the Zhongzuo Institute, and Zhu Gaoxu also asked Wu Cheng: "Has the snow on the road in the north melted?" ”

"Back to Your Highness...... Wu Cheng bowed: "The snow on the official road to Jinzhou from here has been cleared, but the official road to the north is still blocked by snow, and I am afraid that it will not be able to warm up and melt until mid to late February." ”

"Looks like we're going to have to take a month off in Golden State." Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at Lin Wuliu to explain, and Lin Wuliu couldn't help but shake his head:

"Fortunately, Your Highness, you notified Commander Fu in advance to let them rest in Dengzhou, otherwise I'm afraid we will all have to camp in the snow in a few days."

Although Fu let them set off early, because they were carrying food and a lot of supplies, their speed was not fast, and it was not until the day before yesterday when Zhu Gaoxu and they arrived in Dengzhou that Fu let them arrive in Jimo County.

In total, they were afraid that they would not be able to reach Dengzhou until the end of the month, just in time to cross the sea to reach Zhongzuo before the snow melted.

"Your Highness, you're all ready."

After a short time, Yizha walked out of the Zhongzuo Institute with three carts of grain, and Lin Wuliu also turned over and dismounted when he saw this, took out five pieces of money from his bag and handed it to Wu Cheng.

"Your Highness, you ......"

Wu Cheng looked at the money in Lin Wuliu's hand with a surprised expression, but Zhu Gaoxu said: "The cost of the imperial court post road is very large, if everyone transports more than a dozen stones of grain like me, how long can the Zhongzuo Institute last?" ”

"You send someone to Dengzhou in the south to buy a dozen stones of rice to make up for it, or send it to the brothers in the office, it should be regarded as a reward for them to prepare for the city."

The words fell, and Zhu Gaoxu also continued to rush back with the road where the team was coming.

Since the snow on the land route was difficult to walk, they had to take a boat all the way north to Haizhou or Gaizhou to explore the road.

If the official road from Haizhou and Gaizhou to the north could not be walked, then they would have to rest locally.

In Zhu Gaoxu's greeting, more than 200 soldiers of Jilin Wei turned their horses and rushed to the dock, while Wu Cheng looked at their backs and shook his head.

A hundred household officials standing beside him couldn't help but sigh: "Your Majesty is really willing to stuff such a virtuous king into the Jilin Shipyard." ”

"Shen Yan" Wu Cheng glanced at him, and then threw the money into his hand:

"You don't need to buy grain, you call the two brothers to buy a few sheep to treat everyone, and buy the rest of the grain."

"Yes......" Baihu Guan took the money, and then walked back to the Zhongzuo Institute with Wu Cheng.

In just a quarter of an hour, Zhu Gaoxu and the others returned to the ship, and then the five official ships sailed out of Arthur Bay, detoured to the southwest, and then continued to sail to Gaizhou in the north.

Standing on the deck, blowing the biting sea breeze, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the coastal waters of Liaodong at the end of the 14th century, and had to say that they were cleaner than the coastal waters of Liaoning in the previous life, and there were more fish and shrimp.

From time to time, Zhu Gaoxu can still see schools of black pressed fish, which can be described as rich in resources.

When Lin Wuliu and the group of Jiangnan people saw this, their saliva was about to flow out.

"Your Highness, why don't they fish, I'm afraid there can be thousands of catties of fish under this net, right?"

A soldier from a hundred households asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu said helplessly after hearing this:

"You are all fishing in the Yangtze River, and you don't know the danger in this sea."

"Not to mention the unpredictable weather in the sky, especially in the sea, the price of the sea ship alone is enough to dispel many people's thoughts."

"There are fishing boats wherever you can fish on the seaside, and it seems that this kind of place is already a relatively deep place, and no one dares to come to this kind of place to fish without a hundred fishing boats."

"I've heard that there are many people along the coast of Fujian who go out to sea to fish because of poverty, but they never come back, and there are many widow villages along the coast, and that's the reason."

"It's so terrifying......" Listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, everyone suddenly took a breath of cool air.

"If you don't believe me, go to the bow of the ship." Zhu Gaoxu beckoned them to walk towards the bow of the boat, and when they came, they saw waves that were very high.

Such waves are enough to overturn ships under 50 materials, even if they go to sea with 100 materials, they may not be safe.

Seeing that the sea was so fierce, Rao is Lin Wuliu, a group of Jiangnan boys who swam from childhood to adulthood in the Yangtze River, couldn't help but stay away from the bow of the boat.

Because the deck was cold, they soon all rushed back to the cabin, and Zhu Gaoxu was still on the deck.

It's not quite right to say that it's a release, because he is looking at the Liaodong Peninsula from afar, and now he is thinking about its past and present life.

In this area of Liaodong, since the massacre of the Han people by Sima Yi of the Three Kingdoms, this place has been invaded and inhabited by a large number of ethnic minorities.

Even though Goguryeo was destroyed during the Tang Gaozong period and Liaodong was recovered after more than 300 years of absence, because the Tang Dynasty was in a period of exploration in all directions, there was not enough population to migrate to Liaodong, which led to the later abolition of the Andong Protectorate by Tang Suzong.

It was only Tang Suzong's retreat, the Han people retreated for a full 610 years, and it was not until the fourth year of Hongwu that the Han regained part of Liaodong, and then it was not until the 20th year of Hongwu that the whole territory of Liaodong was recovered.

Therefore, in fact, the time for the Ming Dynasty to truly rule Liaodong in an all-round way was only eight years.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the social turmoil in Liaodong lasted for 15 years, and a large number of Mongols, Semu people, Goryeo people, and Jurchens strangled Han landlords, which was an unprecedented catastrophe for the social economy of Liaodong.

The final result was that the Han people in Liaodong were sharply reduced, and by the time the Ming army recovered the entire territory of Liaodong, there were only 300,000 people in the entire Liaodong, and most of them were Goryeo, Semu, Mongol, and Jurchen.

In order to prevent the remnant Yuan forces from moving south, Zhu Yuanzhang also consciously moved the population of Beiping and Shandong to Liaodong, and the young people of Liaodong moved to Beiping and Shandong.

In the first month of the 28th year of Hongwu, there are 140,000 military households in Liaodong, with a population of more than 400,000.

But even so, every year, there are still Liao soldiers fleeing south, some by sea, some by land, no matter what, they all want to escape from Liaodong.

This is not only because of the harsh climate in Liaodong at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, but more importantly, Liaodong is in a strategic buffer zone sandwiched by three breads.

Because of this, the military households continued to flee, and the flight of military households brought about the continuous inability of the local construction in Liaodong to keep up.

If the construction is not good, the new military households will want to run more, so a dead circle has been formed, and the population of Liaodong has not been able to support a province from the beginning to the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the politics can only be attached to the political envoy of Shandong.

Old Zhu sent Zhu Gaochu to come with his own plans, and Zhu Gaochu himself could guess this.

If Zhu Gaoxu could hold Jilin, then the northeastern part of Liaodong would become safe under the protection of Jilin and Daning, and many military households would avoid facing the war directly, and they would naturally be able to stay in Liaodong.

After all, North Korea is still relatively quiet at the moment, and although from time to time there will be Northern Expeditionary factions within it who vainly try to invade and occupy Liaodong, but North Korea's Li Chenggui is still very sober.

As long as Zhu Gaoxu guards Jilin, the military households in western Liaoning will be able to enjoy peace.

If he can further sweep Changbai Mountain and appease its Middle East Sea Jurchens, then the entire Liaodong will be safe.

Once Liaodong is safe, the military households who migrated over are naturally willing to stay, after all, the treatment of military households during the Hongwu period is not bad.

However, even so, as the military attaché of the guard station began to annex land, the landless military households would still flee.

Therefore, in Zhu Gaoxu's view, Liaodong must become a normal province in the future, abolish the guard station and set up a prefecture and county, otherwise no matter how good Lao Zhu's strategic planning is, it may not be able to maintain peace forever.

It is worth mentioning that today's Liaodong is not completely the Wei system, and the current Gaizhou, Haizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou are the state and county systems.

If Zhu Gaoxu is not mistaken, it seems that in history, Lao Zhu abolished these four prefectures and counties this year, and Liaodong was completely transformed into a guard system.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have any feelings about this, because no matter what kind of policy Lao Zhu formulated, he would be overthrown by Zhu Yunwen and his father in the future, as well as himself in the future.

It's just that at the moment, he still has to follow the route formulated by Lao Zhu.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also exhaled, and then turned around and returned to the cabin.

There is a 400-mile sea route from Jinzhou Zhongzuo to Gaizhou, and if it is not surprising, Zhu Gaoxu and the others should arrive in Gaizhou around tomorrow morning......

Time passed, and it was about the same as Zhu Gaoxu had estimated, and he was woken up from the cabin by Yisha and them around the next hour.

"Your Highness, I've arrived in Gaizhou, but the next road is a bit difficult."

Walking on the deck, Zhu Gaoxu listened to the words in his ear and was a little puzzled, but when he walked to the side of the boat, he knew why Yisha would say this.

I saw that the thick ice blocked the passage of the ships into the port of Gaizhou, and at this moment they were still half a mile away from the port of Gaizhou, but this half of the mile was more than a foot of ice.

"First send someone to ask the official road if we can go, and if we can go, we will be careful to go ashore."

Zhu Gaoxu instructed Yisha, and Yishaha also nodded and said, "Lin Xiaoqi has already sent someone." ”

Since he has not yet arrived in Jilin, Zhu Gaoxu has not officially appointed Lin Wuliu to an official position, so he is still a small banner.

But despite this, everyone in the team basically knew that Lin Wuliu was the leader of their group, and there was no yang or yin against his words.

Knowing that Lin Wuliu had arranged for someone to go to the shore, Zhu Gaoxu also sat on the horse brought to him by a soldier.

About half an hour later, the man who had gone to explore the path also returned.

"Boss Lin, the soldiers at the dock said that the official road can go to 30,000 guards, but it is a little difficult to walk, and the wheels can't pass."

The soldiers who came back stood on the ice and greeted Lin Wuliu, and Lin Wuliu also walked up to the deck from the ladder of the ship when he got the news, and told Zhu Gaoxu truthfully.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu did not rush to order departure, but looked at the sky, looking at the gloomy sky, he was worried that it would snow, so he decided to stay on the ship for a few days before leaving.

"Prepare some firewood and food, and we'll wait for the sun to come out one day."

"Yes!"

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu was about to speak, Lin Wuliu responded honestly, but he also said in time: "Your Highness, it is inevitable to live on this ship, do you want to go ashore?" ”

"The brothers are on the boat, what do I say when I go ashore?"

Zhu Gaoxu frowned and rejected Yisha's suggestion, then turned around and returned to the cabin.

As Zhu Gaoxu expected, just after noon, snowflakes fell in the sky, making some of the brothers who were eating on the deck laugh and scold one by one and ran back to the cabin.

"It's really cold in the north, and I haven't been able to say a word about this side, and it's already cold."

"If you stay a quarter of an hour longer, it might freeze."

"Hahaha......"

The brothers in the cabin were talking and laughing, looking at them, Zhu Gaoxu's face also had a smile on his face.

Before arriving in Jilin, these were the few days they could relax.

Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and took a sip of hot soup, and the snow he predicted did not stop soon, but became heavier and heavier.

It snowed heavily for seven days, and Zhu Gaoxu and the others also stayed on the ship for seven days.

It wasn't until the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month that the snow slowly stopped, and the sun came out the next day.

Seeing the sun come out, Zhu Gaoxu also knew that the snow season should have passed, so he began to beckon everyone to come ashore.

Under his order, 200 guards carefully transported war horses, money, food and other supplies to the Gaizhou ferry.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu get off the boat, the governor of Gaizhou also asked the soldiers in the city to help carry things.

It wasn't until noon, with everything being transported to the ferry, that Zhu Gaoxu appeared at the ferry.

He had a few polite words with the governor of Gaizhou, and then led the team north.

Looking at the back of his departure, Na Zhizhou couldn't help but say to the people around him: "In the past, when the vassal kings passed by Gaizhou, they had to be served with wine and delicacies, and they scolded us when they lived a little worse. ”

"It's this Corporal Lixian, the king of Bohai, who would rather live on the boat than embarrass us, is really a virtuous king......"

His words won the approval of many officials, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't care much, and just hurried to Jilin with the team.

As Zhu Gaoxu expected, since the 28th, they can see the melting snow all the way north.

Of course, there are muddy roads that follow.

It was only more than 260 miles from Gaizhou to Liaoyang, but Zhu Gaoxu and his team walked for five days, and they did not arrive in Liaoyang until the second dragon raised its head in early February.

"It's finally here."

Looking at Liaoyang City in the distance, Zhu Gaoxu, who was covered in mud, breathed a sigh of relief.

This is not to say that their journey is over, but that Zhu Gaoxu can rest in Liaoyang for a few days.

When Zhu Gaoxu came to Liaodong, he naturally had to discuss with Zhou Xing, the chief military officer of Liaodong, and Zhou Xing was waiting for him in Liaoyang early.

As expected, not long after Zhu Gaoxu and the others arrived at the south of Liaoyang City, a group of cavalry galloped from the direction of Liaoyang City.

"Dare to ask, but His Royal Highness the King of Bohai?"

Ten cavalrymen wearing cloth armor came to the front of the team, and seeing this, it was naturally impossible for Zhu Gaoxu to answer in person, so he stepped forward and said:

"This is the King of Bohai, dare to ask where Chief Officer Zhou is?"

"His Highness Chitose!"

"Don't kneel, don't dirty your armor."

Hearing that it was really Zhu Gaoxu, the ten cavalrymen hurriedly turned over and dismounted, but fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu persuaded them, otherwise this cloth armor would have to be cleaned.

"Your Highness, Chief Officer Zhou is already waiting for you at Andingmen."

The little flag officer who led the team lied, Zhou Xing at this moment did not wait for Zhu Gaoxu, after all, no one could say when Zhu Gaochu would arrive, but he was indeed near Andingmen.

"Please let Chief Officer Zhou prepare a meal for my group, and in addition, His Royal Highness has other matters to discuss with Chief Officer Zhou."

Yishiha acted as a microphone, and the cavalry flag officer hurriedly returned the salute when he heard this, and then turned over and rode back to Liaoyang City, leaving nine cavalry to lead the way.

Not many people on Zhu Gaoxu's side were curious about the cloth armor of the northern border army, after all, the cloth armor had begun to equip the troops as early as the pre-Yuan period.

Since the world temperature dropped at the end of the Song Dynasty, the northern army began to change cloth face armor, not only because it could keep warm, but also because it could more effectively prevent the armor from rusting.

Of course, the cloth armor is not worn close to the flesh, and there must be a jacket between the armor and the mandarin duck battle jacket.

The defensive power of cloth armor is not low, but in the summer, many border armies will also change to the outer armor (zha armor).

To put it bluntly, the long-range firepower of the Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty was still insufficient, and the bronze guns and bowls were not enough to suppress the northern nomads in armor, so hand-to-hand combat was the norm on the battlefield.

In hand-to-hand combat, the armor was more dominant than the cloth armor, so the soldiers in the north always had a set of armor and a set of cloth armor.

However, for Zhu Gaoxu, whenever the army under his command fights in the north in the future, it will naturally be mainly cloth armor.

Although he excelled in hand-to-hand combat, he weighed ten to fifteen pounds heavier than the cloth armor, which was contrary to Zhu Gaoxu's pursuit of mobility, and the reason why he pursued mobility was because he had the confidence to make an arquebus.

Once the arquebus appeared, and it was further paired with a spear, whether it was a border army or a nomadic cavalry, as long as there was no absolute numerical suppression of him, Zhu Gaoxu was confident that he would be able to defeat the other party.

While he was thinking so, more than 200 of them also came to the Andingmen of Liaoyang City.

Under the Anding Gate, a sixty-year-old man in a robe said to Zhu Gaoxu:

"The last general, Zhou Xing, the chief military officer of Liaodong, bowed to the king of Bohai ......"

"The old general and you are exempt, don't dirty your robes."

Zhu Gaoxu turned over and dismounted, and Zhou Xing and the others did not continue to kneel down when they heard this, after all, no one wanted to change their clothes in winter.

"I'm afraid this horse is a bloody horse?"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu leading the horse over, the eyes of Zhou Xing and the others were attracted by the red horse.

It has to be said that although the three-year-old red horse is still underage, it is no longer smaller than the ordinary Hequ horse, but larger.

"It is indeed a bloody horse given by the emperor's grandfather."

Zhu Gaoxu handed the reins of the red horse to Yishiha, and then said to Zhou Xing: "I am afraid that I will have to disturb Liaoyang City for a few days this time, not only to talk to the old general about Wuliangha and Xiyangha, but also for food." ”

Grain is Zhu Gaoxu's top priority in Jilin, and he discussed it with Lao Zhu long before he set off, and every year after the snow melts, he will send a whole year's worth of grain in one go.

In this regard, Lao Zhu also agreed to be happy at that time.

It stands to reason that Zhu Gaoxu should believe in his grandfather, but he has indeed been deceived by Lao Zhu too many times, and this issue must be implemented, otherwise his going to Jilin will really be no different from exile.

"The last general has already opened a banquet for thirty tables in the restaurant not far away, please move with Your Highness."

Zhou Xing made a gesture of invitation, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked to the restaurant with him when he heard the words.

On the way, Zhu Gaoxu will also look at the pedestrians on the road, he doesn't feel it when he is in Shandong and Nanzhili, but after coming to Liaoyang City, he can clearly feel the population problem of the Ming Dynasty.

The huge Liaoyang City, with a width of more than 100 steps on the streets, but there are basically few pedestrians, such a population density is probably the norm in Liaodong.

Thinking so, Zhu Gaoxu also came to a three-story restaurant with Zhou Xing, and took Yishaha and Lin Wuliu to the third floor with him.

All the tables were filled with only dishes and chopsticks, and no food, but this was not surprising.

Although the restaurant has a fire wall and closes its doors and windows, the temperature in early February in Liaodong is still cold, and I am afraid that it can feel like minus ten degrees.

Such a temperature is indeed much colder than that of later generations, after all, February of the Ming Dynasty is equal to March of later generations, such as Liaoyang in early March, I am afraid that there are few times when it is still more than ten degrees below zero at noon.

"Let's serve!"

Zhou Xing greeted the shopkeeper of the restaurant who was waiting early, and the shopkeeper nodded in response, and then Zhu Gaoxu saw the guys carry out the braziers full of firewood one by one.

The braziers were covered with hollowed-out iron lids and placed under the table one by one to warm the legs of the people.

After all, it is in Liaodong, and the city of Liaoyang is basically a dirt road, and there are few blue brick and stone roads like those in the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, it is very comfortable to wet some shoes when you go out, and it is also extremely comfortable to put a brazier to dry.

Even if it was Zhu Gaoxu, the first thing he did after going to Jilin was to plan the military fort and expand the city.

If the conditions were right, he might build a fire tunnel and fire wall like the Forbidden City in Jilin City to achieve heating.

After all, there is a shortage of everything in Liaodong, except for fuel......

(End of chapter)