"This time, more than 500,000 catties of tea were used, and 13,518 horses were obtained, of which 2,427 horses could be selected into the Dajiao field as military horses."

On 15 March, when Li Jinglong, who had returned from the northwest, reported to Zhu Yuanzhang and others the results of the tea and horse exchange in the Wuying Palace, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Yunwen all chuckled lightly, obviously very happy about the incident.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang, the lord of the world, had a somewhat heavy face, but he couldn't tell the reason.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't react, Zhu Yunwen stepped forward by pouring tea and asked in a low voice: "Grandpa, are you uncomfortable?" ”

"No, just a little uneasy." After being woken up by Zhu Yunwen's voice, Zhu Yuanzhang said casually, and then set his eyes on Li Jinglong.

For this nephew, he is very satisfied.

Although Li Jinglong is not as good as his father, his ability and talent are still among the top in the current dynasty.

Even though Xu Huizu has been tempered in the southwest for two and a half years, he is still too far behind Li Jinglong, which can be seen from Li Jinglong's presiding over the mutual market of the tea and horse division this time.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, in addition to veterans like Guo Ying and Geng Bingwen, among the vassal kings and military attaches of the Mesozoic and new generations, from top to bottom, they are the fourth of their own families, Mu Chun, Li Jinglong, Song Sheng, Wu Gao, and the third of their own families.

If you count further down, it is Yang Wen, Ping'an, Chen Xuan and Zhu Gaoxu's kid.

Of course, in his heart, Zhu Gaoxu is still young, and when it is not yet finalized, there is still room for growth.

However, even though he knew that Zhu Gaoxu's future achievements would be very high, he didn't think about guarding against him, he just tried to control it as much as possible.

After all, in his opinion, even if Zhu Gaoxu became the climate in the future, with the little force in his hands, he really couldn't think of anything he could do that threatened the fundamental power of the imperial court.

The current situation of the Ming vassal king, and the successive dynasties of the previous dynasty, are all situations that can make the emperor laugh.

Comparing the power of the vassal kings of the Western Han Dynasty, the Western Jin Dynasty, and even the Sui and Tang dynasties, the vassal system created by himself is not a powerful force.

Compared with the vassal king of the Western Han Dynasty, who ruled over three counties and 53 cities and had nearly 100,000 soldiers, Zhu Di and Zhu Li, who could not even reach 20,000 soldiers and horses, ruled only one palace, three guards, and the number of soldiers and horses could not reach 20,000.

As long as the generals are trusted, even if there is a mistake in cutting the feudal domain in the future, it will not affect the overall situation.

He thought so, and his heart was much lighter.

Unconsciously, he has already made arrangements for many things in the future, as long as Zhu Yunwen Xiao follows Cao, the Ming Dynasty can prosper for another generation.

After the more than 2,000 military horses entered the Great Sect this time, the number of iron horsemen in Beijing could also reach 10,000.

Coupled with the cavalry of each capital, carefully calculated, the imperial court also has 30,000 iron cavalry, and the family background is also solid.

Thinking of these many things, Zhu Yuanzhang also let go of the uneasiness in his heart, and while looking at Li Jinglong, he stroked his beard and spoke: "This time I went to the northwest, did I find anything wrong?" ”

"No, after Song Sheng returned to Liangzhou, he ran the Shaanxi Xingdu Division and did a good job."

Li Jinglong replied truthfully, and this also explains why Song Sheng did not appear in the Nandian victory this time.

Because Warat often attacked the Ming army's garrison in Yijinai, Zhu Yuanzhang transferred Song Sheng and his son back to the northwest in September last year, and appointed Song Sheng as the commander of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, and sat in Liangzhou as a Pingqiang general.

Now listening to what Li Jinglong said, Song Sheng is indeed in Liangzhou and is in charge well, and if he is in charge, he can rest assured.

"Did you hear about Timur this time?"

The only thing Zhu Yuanzhang can't let go of at the moment is what Zhu Gaoxu said about Timur's eastward invasion.

It's just that after Zhu Yuanzhang's inquiry came out, Li Jinglong shook his head: "I haven't heard of it, but the Hu people who don't lose Bali have increased their efforts to patrol the border, Song Sheng and his ministers have said it." ”

"Well......" Zhu Yuanzhang didn't react much, after all, there was Song Sheng plus the twelve guards and four guards of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, even if something happened, the nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses could block it for a while, enough to support the Sichuan and Shaanxi Divisions to send troops to support.

If you think about it carefully, you don't have anything to worry about, and the only thing you need to pay attention to is the war in the southwest and the border patrol in the north.

Thinking about this, he said to Li Jinglong: "I am going to order King Yan to patrol the border, but this time it is mainly based on the Wuliangha tribes. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said his thoughts, but Li Jinglong didn't feel that there was anything wrong, and replied: "If you come to the north three or two times like this, you can only escape to Mobei if you want to come to Wuliangha." ”

"What the court wants is for them to escape to the north of the desert." Zhu Yuanzhang also made no secret of his strategic goals.

In order to make Li Jinglong and Zhu Yunwen understand, he deliberately glanced at each of them, and then explained: "Gao Xu's last northern tour relied on the waterway to directly penetrate the Wuliang Ha Mountain, so I thought that if I could take the waterway, then I would vigorously complete Jilin and vigorously reclaim in Jilin. ”

"In the future, if Jilin can become a granary outside the Guan, it can rely on water transportation to go deep into Modong and expel the Wuliangha tribes to Mobei."

"As long as the Wuliangha tribes leave, the soldiers of Daning can go north to build a city, so that the area around Daning can become the rear, and the troops can be reclaimed with peace of mind."

"Gao Xu wrote in his letter to me that the upper reaches of the Wenjiang River are more difficult to reclaim than those along the Liaohe and Songhua rivers, but the underground water source is abundant, and if you want to dig a well, you can get water down."

"If you can expel the Wuliang Ha tribes, you only need to set up more than ten thousand households along the east side of the Hara Wu Mountains, which is enough to let Modong settle down."

"Judging from the map he presented earlier, as long as this kid doesn't tell a lie, once the Wuliangha tribes are expelled, the imperial court will not have to spend more than 2 million stones a year to maintain Daning and Liaodong in the future, and it will be completely possible for the local troops to be converted into soldiers."

Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts are still clear, and it goes without saying much, he has always known the benefits of controlling Modong, and the only thing he is worried about is that the Han people can no longer live there well.

But when Zhu Gaoxu told him the detailed situation of Modong through family letters and drawings, he quickly let go of this worry.

"If that's the case, then the burden on the court can be reduced a lot."

Li Jinglong did not doubt the sights and opinions of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoxu, since Zhu Gaoxu said that the upper reaches of the Wenjiang River could be cultivated, then once the Ming Dynasty controlled Modong by immigrating to the real side, plus the Kaiping Five Guards set up last year, then Daning and Liaodong will soon become the rear.

As long as they become the rear area, many local military households can be converted from military to civilian use.

Without the heavy burden of food and monthly rations, the money and grain of the imperial court could save more than 2 million stones.

That's more than 2 million stones, if it is invested in the southwest and northwest, there is no doubt that it will further expand and consolidate the three Xuan Liuwei in the southwest and the seven guards in the northwest.

You must know that Daming's current investment in Gansu and other important towns in the northwest and Yunnan is only 2 million stones.

If another two million stone of grain were invested, the local soldiers would be able to double.

If the number of soldiers in these places is doubled, Sanxuan Liuwei and Guanxi Qiwei will immediately be honest and continue to be the good sons of the Ming Dynasty, and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate will also rush to recognize their relatives, and the Tusi and monks of the two capitals of Uszang and Duogan will also be more respectful.

Therefore, whether Modong can be taken, or whether it can be reclaimed after taking Modong, so that Daning and Liaodong can be completely liberated, this is what Zhu Yuanzhang is most concerned about.

It was precisely because of its importance that Zhu Yuanzhang decided to organize another large-scale northern tour.

He would rather spend millions of stones to solve Modong's problems for several years in a row, rather than steadily invest two million stones of grain in his life to maintain the defense line.

"But grandpa ......"

Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth out of place, and returned the salute after attracting everyone's attention: "If there are two or three more northern tours, then the Chang Closing of Shandong and Zhili may be unsustainable." ”

Zhu Yunwen's words made Zhu Yuanzhang frown, and Li Jinglong also kept his mouth shut and did not answer.

Obviously, his military insight into this grandson is indescribable.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Li Jinglong did not speak, so he asked Zhu Yunwen uncomfortably: "If you don't take the money and grain to fight, will it be possible to keep it and pay the New Year's tribute like the former Song Dynasty?" ”

"Grandson didn't mean that, grandson just thought if he could take his time." Zhu Yunwen hurriedly explained, and Zhu Gaochi, who had never spoken on the side, also excused him:

"Grandpa Huang, the grandson doesn't mean that, it's just that in the past three years, the imperial court has continuously launched a northern tour, spending millions of dollars and food, although it has killed a lot of Hu soldiers and captured a lot of herds, but after all, it is to beat beggars with gold, and the gains outweigh the losses."

"You can't say that!" Seeing that there was an opportunity for his own performance, Zhu Jixi did not let go, and hurriedly got up and retorted:

"As the emperor's grandfather said, I'd rather take millions of dollars and grain to beat people than let people come to my house to loot."

"I can't bear these tens of millions of money and food at the moment, and in the future, I have to endure guarding against Hu soldiers every year, and preparing for the border for decades."

After Zhu Jixi finished speaking, he did not forget to flatter Zhu Yuanzhang:

"Compared with the two, my grandson would rather take out tens of millions of stone grain to fight thieves than take tens of millions of stone grain to prevent thieves."

"Hmm......" Zhu Jixi's words obviously made Zhu Yuanzhang more useful.

Regardless of whether Zhu Jixi's words were for flattery or he analyzed it himself, he finally made peace with his own ideas.

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone can be seen by everyone in the hall.

Zhu Gaochi's face hesitated, Zhu Yunxi was not shocked, Zhu Jixi was overjoyed, and only Li Jinglong hung high.

Li Jinglong knows his uncle's thoughts very well, he has never been a peaceful person.

Even though he suffered the defeat of Lingbei, he still launched several northern expeditions after that, which also means that his idea is to destroy the remnants, rather than stick to it.

If it weren't for the death of the first crown prince, the imperial court would have continued to make large-scale expeditions to the north.

The death of the first prince made the old man stop for a few years, but Zhu Gaoxu, a young man who suddenly emerged, let the old man see the hope of the Northern Expedition.

It is true that the remnant yuan is a western escape, but it can't beat the remnant yuan, the imperial court can fight Wuliangha, and it can also beat the Jurchens outside the border.

With the family wealth accumulated by the current old man in the thirty-first year of Hongwu Wenzhi, chasing the remnant yuan may be a money-losing thing, but appeasing the Jurchens and taking Modong is definitely a thing worth operating for a long time.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong couldn't help but think of Zhu Gaoxu.

Rao didn't expect that the young man who told him how to settle the widow at the beginning still did not stop after arriving in the north, but fought more and more, and the hope that the court saw was getting bigger and bigger.

It was precisely because he saw what Zhu Gaoxu did in Jilin City that Zhu Yuanzhang thought about reclaiming the army in Modong.

Before, he must not have dared to think so, because he always felt that the time was not ripe.

But as the Uliangha tribes experienced two heavy casualties, he gradually felt that this opportunity might be grasped by himself.

It is precisely because of this that he will increase the rations and monthly rations for Jilin Wei, and increase the military rations of about 200,000 stone from the original 13,000 military households to 540,000 stones.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang did not invest so much in Jilin Wei because of his personal feelings, what he wanted was for Zhu Gaoxu to continue to cultivate mature fields in Jilin City, until Jilin City could afford to supply more than ten thousand households along the border of the Harawen Mountains, and then he would take action to deprive Jilin City of everything.

Doing this, although I am a little sorry for that kid, Zhu Yuanzhang's first identity is the emperor, and the second is his grandfather Zhu Gaoxu.

It really doesn't work, just find something else to make up for him in the future.

Touching his beard weakly, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually thought of Zhu Gaoxu's expression after learning that he had suffered a loss.

Of course, he hid all this in his heart, and he never told anyone else, not even Guo Ying, who he trusted, so Zhu Yunwen naturally didn't know.

Because he didn't know, Zhu Yunwen only felt that his grandfather was helping Zhu Gaoxu expand his power.

He felt a little uncomfortable inexplicably, but Zhu Yuanzhang woke him up at this time and announced some other things.

"Jiangnan's tax deduction with banknotes, carefully calculated, has been intermittently for two years......"

Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned the matter of using banknotes to offset taxes, which made Zhu Yunwen inexplicably nervous.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know about his nervousness, but continued to take care of himself: "A few days ago, I asked the household department to take inventory, and in the summer and autumn of two years, Su Song's second mansion used more than 2 million yuan of treasure money to offset nearly 5 million stone taxes and grain. ”

"After last year's autumn harvest with banknotes to offset taxes, the price of treasure banknotes in the world's provinces has not risen, and I think it has reached the limit."

"Therefore, I am determined to stop using banknotes to offset taxes this year, and wait until the autumn harvest is over, and then decide whether to continue to use banknotes for tax purposes next year."

What really made the price of treasure money rise was not the more than 2 million treasure banknotes recovered by the imperial court, but the treasure banknotes that the world's wealthy people exchanged and hoarded from the market.

After the stimulus of using banknotes to offset taxes twice in three years, many wealthy households have hoarded a lot of treasure money, but the scope of tax deduction has not been expanded.

In this way, there will naturally be no rich people in the market who are willing to exchange and hoard treasure money, and the price of treasure money will naturally not rise.

In addition, the imperial court moved the wealthy into the capital, and many wealthy families even sold and exchanged a lot of treasure money, resulting in the price of treasure money falling for a period of time at this time last year.

Zhu Yuanzhang engaged in tax deduction with banknotes, not to let this group of rich people eat the benefits, but to make them pay a certain price to eat the benefits.

Now they only want to eat the benefits, and they don't want to pay the price, so the matter of using money to offset taxes naturally has to stop.

It's just that his arrangement made Zhu Yunwen hurriedly stand up and say: "Grandpa, the news of using banknotes to deduct taxes this year has been released, and if it is stopped, I am afraid it will be detrimental to the prestige of the imperial court." ”

"......" watched Zhu Yunwen come out, although Zhu Yuanzhang expected it, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"If that kid Gao Xu was here, he would probably agree with my idea......

I don't know if it's old, I miss the old, Zhu Yuanzhang has always thought of Zhu Gaoxu recently.

It's one thing to just want to think about it, and it's another thing to control him, like now......

Zhu Yuanzhang set his eyes on Zhu Yunwen, he knew that his grandson was close to the wealthy squire in Jiangnan, so he deliberately told him to stop paying taxes with money for a year.

The purpose of doing this is to use Zhu Yunwen's mouth to convey his meaning to that group of people, so as to teach them to know who the master of this world is.

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard lightly, and wanted to say something more, but at this time, a military attache with a pale face walked in outside the Wuying Palace.

He was Jiang Hui, the new commander of the Jinyi Guard, and his pale face made Zhu Yuanzhang's already uneasy heart gradually heavy.

"Your Majesty is blessed ......"

Jiang Hui entered the Wuying Palace, and after bowing five times and bowing three times, he slowly raised his head: "Taiyuan 800 miles to expedite ......"

When the word 'Taiyuan' appeared, everyone in the hall turned around, but no matter how much they thought about it, they didn't expect Jiang Hui's next words.

"At three o'clock and six minutes on the night of March 12, His Royal Highness the King of Jin ...... It's gone! ”

When the last two words blurted out, Jiang Hui lowered his head, and the air in the hall instantly froze.

Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Gaochi, and Li Jinglong showed expressions of disbelief, and Zhu Jixi, who was still happy about his proper flattery a second ago, was blank in his mind at the moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang's half-squinted eyes suddenly widened, he slowly got up from the dragon chair, and put his hand on the dragon case in disbelief, his beard trembled: "What are you talking ......about?"

"His Royal Highness the King of Jin...... It's gone! Jiang Hui slammed his head on the ground, and this repeated words made Zhu Jixi's body weak, and the whole person sat on the gold bricks in the hall.

"My dad...... "Zhu Jixi seemed to be stupid, and kept repeating this sentence.......

Zhu Yuanzhang staggered out from behind the dragon case and almost fell, but fortunately, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Yunwen hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and Li Jinglong also helped Zhu Jixi, who was paralyzed on the ground.

Even now, everyone's minds are still blank, and they don't know what to say.

"What's going on? How did he get it! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang lost his temper, and with the support of his two grandchildren, he took a few steps forward, and asked with a trembling voice.

"The royal medical officer diagnosed it as a deficiency of qi and blood, and he did everything to make up for it but did not take it from the body, and he was unable to make up for it because of his deficiency, and he was sick and ......."

Jiang Hui said with difficulty the cause of Zhu Li's death, which made Zhu Yuanzhang's body that had not recovered suddenly weak, and he was almost sitting on the ground.

Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi struggled to support him, but Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes welled up with tears: "The third child... Oh my son!! ”

When he learned that Zhu Li died of the same disease as Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang broke down and cried.

At the moment, there were no other thoughts in his mind, almost blank, just instinctively crying according to his body's reaction.

Not only him, but Zhu Jixi, who came back to his senses on the side, was also hugging his head and crying.

It's just that compared with Lao Zhu's pain of losing his son, his crying feelings are more complicated.

The pain of losing his father was painful, but Zhu Li's death brought Zhu Jixi another heavy blow.

Jin Mansion, it is impossible to log in to the Wuying Palace, he will be the same as Zhu Shangbing, after facing the news of his father's death, he will be sent back to Shanxi to inherit the throne, and he will no longer have the opportunity and qualifications to govern in the Wuying Palace.

His father once promised him the position of great treasure, but it has become completely impossible.

Zhu Jixi persisted for more than ten years, losing his father-in-law's life and the princess's feelings, but in the end, he returned to such an ending, how could he accept it.

Compared with Lao Zhu and Zhu Jixi, Zhu Gaochi and Li Jinglong's heads are still confused.

At this moment, Li Jinglong subconsciously looked at Zhu Yunwen, who was holding the emperor.

Zhu Yunwen's face had a complicated expression, but the smile on the corner of his mouth could not be hidden.

The emperor is experiencing the pain of losing a child, and he has no time to notice it, but he can ......

As soon as Li Jinglong was about to withdraw his gaze, he met Zhu Yunwen's gaze.

It seemed that he had just discovered that Li Jinglong was looking at himself, and Zhu Yunwen hurriedly sorted out the expression on his face, looking sad.

Such a change made Li Jinglong's heart sink, maybe at this time, he found that this grandson's scheming was so deep.

is different from everyone, if everyone is sad, then Zhu Gaochi is worried at this moment.

Faced with the fact that the three uncles all died in the prime of life, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but worry about his father.

It's just that when he thought of Zhu Di's sturdy body, he felt a little relieved: "My father is in such good health, he should be fine......

Before his thoughts fell, he felt a sinking in his hand, and when he looked down, he saw that his grandfather had fainted in tears.

"Grandpa!!"

"Doctor! Spread the Imperial Doctor!! ”

Zhu Gaochi was the first to discover the faint Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yunwen, Li Jinglong and others who reacted hurriedly shouted for the imperial doctor.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang's health was not particularly good last year, the imperial doctor of Tai Hospital has always arranged for him to be on duty around him.

When the voice of the imperial physician was heard, soon a imperial physician carrying a medicine box rushed in from outside the hall.

After checking Zhu Yuanzhang's pulse, he hurriedly pricked Baihui, Shangxing and other acupuncture points with silver needles.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang woke up slowly, and the people around him were concerned and asked.

In the face of these inquiries, he only felt noisy, and tears slowly flowed out.

"Zhu Mengyan, the secretary of the Calling Rite Department......"

Although he was still crying, his mood was much calmer than before, but the sadness inside was probably something that only he could know.

After explaining, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi helped him sit back on the dragon chair.

Zhu Jixi, who is the son of man, was frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang's fainting, and the tears that were hard to stop flowed out after a while.

Only Zhu Yunwen, after helping Zhu Yuanzhang to take a seat, glanced at Li Jinglong, who had just found him laughing, with deep meaning.

Facing that gaze, Li Jinglong slowly lowered his head......

"Ming Taizu Record": Gengshen, King of Jin, mourning, dropping out of the dynasty for three days.

(End of chapter)