On the first day of the first month of June, after three days of rest and recuperation, the 31st year of Hongwu's Northern Patrol Army finally announced its withdrawal due to Zhu Di's uneasiness and Zhu Gaoxu's obstruction.

It's just that for this northern tour, no one in the army has any complaints, in the end, the Ming army has repeatedly gone out of the fortress, and not every time they can meet the Mongols.

The people just thought that Uliangha had been hit too hard, so they moved too far north, and the search was not worth the loss.

Perhaps only Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di, and the generals of the Yan Mansion and the Bohai Prefecture knew what the reason for this unsuccessful return was.

"Second child, I'm leaving."

Outside the city of Wuliang Habald, watching the more than 200,000 troops begin to return south, Zhu Di rode his horse to the front of the Bohai 3,000 cavalry formation, and explained to Zhu Gaoxu with a complicated expression.

Behind Zhu Di, the expressions of Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu and Yao Guangxiao were also intriguing, obviously Zhu Gaoxu's actions this time made them know him again.

However, Zhu Gaoxu himself didn't care about their thoughts.

When Zhu Yunwen's knife was really swung towards Yan Mansion, Zhu Neng and the others would be able to understand themselves without him opening his mouth to explain.

"Father, the kid is still the same sentence......"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di and the people in the Yan Mansion, and he stepped forward to use a few people to hear the voice and said:

"I'm afraid that the one in Nanjing has already inherited the throne, and the boy's move has saved you, but my fifth uncle may become your scapegoat."

Zhu Gaoxu is sophistry, or brainwashing Zhu Di.

Zhu Di doesn't know history, he can only judge based on the present, so when Zhu Gaoxu hints like this, I am afraid that when he learns that Zhu Hu was cut down and deposed as a concubine, his mood will be very complicated.

"Zhou Fan and Qi Fan, if the imperial court moves against both, then you will be next."

"If the court really wants to act against you, then the kid will bear the brunt."

"The boy is here to explain to you and the generals, if the court wants to do something to the boy, the boy will never be arrested, you should know what the boy I mean."

Zhu Gaoxu still wanted to force Zhu Di to rebel, but his way of forcing him to rebel changed.

According to his judgment, if Zhu Yunwen really wants to move Zhu Di, he must move himself first, because when Zhu Yunwen and Li Jinglong, Geng Bingwen and others in history were dealing with Zhu Di, in fact, what they were most worried about was that Zhu Di would flee to the outside world.

Historically, this has been the case, and their mentality is not much worse now, because the situation is even more dire now.

If Zhu Di fled to Saiwai in history, he could only take refuge with the Mongols, but now it is different.

Because of himself, Zhu Di can completely flee to Saiwai, and then go to Jilin City to take refuge in himself.

Jilin City has Jinyiwei, so once Zhu Yunwen masters Jinyiwei, it should not be difficult to guess that Jilin City's self-sufficiency is actually in the past two years.

Clean up Zhu Di first, in case Zhu Di escapes, then their father and son will join forces in Jilin, and Daming will undoubtedly face a more tricky side trouble.

Therefore, the only way to further cut down the feudal domain is to clean up the Bohai Sea first, and then rely on Yanshan, Taihang Mountain, and Shanhaiguan to besiege Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know when Zhu Yunwen would move himself, but he didn't think it would take too long.

Send people to Bohai as soon as September, and take over Bohai by the beginning of spring next year at the latest, and there is no possibility of further delay.

Of course, what Zhu Gaoxu hopes most is that Zhu Yunwen will give himself a little time and insist on doing it to himself until the beginning of spring next year.

Now I still need a little time to prepare.

After the beginning of spring next year, as long as he dares to do it to himself, he will simply be in the sky, so what he says to Zhu Di now is to let Zhu Di prepare in advance, don't raise troops himself, Zhu Di is still pretending to be crazy and stupid in Yanwang's Mansion, and when the time comes, Zhu Yunwen's people will raid Yanwang's Mansion without knowing.

Sure enough, after listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, Zhu Di's face immediately became solemn.

If Zhu Gaochu really rebelled, he would definitely be eliminated by Zhu Yunwen seizing the opportunity, thinking of this, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu directly.

He tried to see something from Zhu Gaoxu's face, but he only saw Zhu Gaoxu's flat gaze.

"You're forcing the army to be self-respecting......"

Zhu Di spoke slowly, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head: "The kid is letting you protect yourself." ”

Indeed, Zhu Gaoxu's actions in the past month, no matter how you look at it, are very sorry for Zhu Di.

If it weren't for the outbreak of Jianwen's cutting of the feudal domain and the Battle of Jingjing, then the father and son would probably be estranged for the rest of their lives.

It's just that for Zhu Gaoxu, if Jianwen really didn't appear, then he would rather have an estrangement between father and son.

"I'm leaving, take care of yourself......"

Zhu Di didn't say anything more, he felt a little uncomfortable at the moment.

Shaking the reins, he hung his head and left in front of the Vulyang City, while Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, and Zhang Yu were silent when they passed in front of Zhu Gaoxu, but after making a move, they rode their horses and chased after Zhu Di.

After they left, Yao Guangxiao also slowly rode to Zhu Gaoxu.

However, compared with Zhu Di and Zhu Neng and others, he is still kind and kind, with a chuckle on the corner of his mouth, as if foreign affairs have nothing to do with him.

"Can you accept such an outcome?"

Yao Guangxiao came to ask, he wanted to know if the current Zhu Gaoxu could still maintain that calmness.

"What's unacceptable?" Zhu Gaoxu was still calm, and he glanced at Yao Guangxiao: "If my father is really helpless to raise troops, what will happen to the master?" ”

"Forehead......" Yao Guangxiao still wanted to see Zhu Gaoxu's embarrassed appearance, but he didn't want Zhu Gaoxu to embarrass him with a word.

However, although he was embarrassed, he still thought about the question raised by Zhu Gaoxu.

He counted a few Buddha beads and said heartily: "The poor monk has no concern, and His Royal Highness King Yan is kind to the poor monk." ”

"If His Highness is really helpless, then what if you give up this skin and accompany him to break through?"

Yao Guangxiao calmly said his answer, and Zhu Gaoxu also continued: "Aren't you afraid that the Buddha will blame? ”

"Hehe......" Hearing the Buddha, Yao Guangxiao chuckled a few times and said: "If you don't want to repay your kindness, then even if the poor monk survives, he can't go to Bliss after death, in this case, it's better to gamble." ”

When the words fell, Yao Guangxiao looked at Zhu Di and them who were walking away, and also shook the reins of the horse, and rode slowly past Zhu Gaoxu.

"Old bones, if I continue to talk to you, I won't be able to catch up with His Highness."

"Master walk slowly." Prime Minister Zhu Gaoxu sent it off, and watched Yao Guangxiao follow Zhu Di and them away.

At this time, Wang Yi rode forward, followed Zhu Gaoxu's gaze, and said at the same time: "This master is a smart man, why don't you remind him?" ”

"Smart people don't need to be reminded." Zhu Gaoxu turned his horse's head, no longer looking at Zhu Di's back, but instead looked at the Ming army's team that was constantly walking out of the camp.

After a while, he saw the familiar figures.

Under the leadership of Yang Zhan and Lin Su, they slowly walked towards themselves.

After a while, they came to their side, led by Yang Zhan and Lin Su: "Your Highness, take care." ”

"Go, if we see you again in the future, I'll have a good pot of wine with you."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth with a smile, and Yang Zhan and Lin Su also signaled to more than ten people behind him.

The more than ten people left with understanding, and the two of them stepped forward and came to Zhu Gaoxu's side.

"Your Highness, what you said before is true?"

Yang Zhan had a solemn face, and the reason why he was like this was because Zhu Gaoxu told them three days ago that the first emperor had collapsed, and the grandson had succeeded to the throne, and he was about to cut the feudal domain in the near future.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say that he would raise troops, but only said that Zhu Yunwen had his own ambitions, so he was afraid that the means of cutting the feudal domain would surprise others, and he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to survive.

This kind of words are not like words that would come out of his mouth, contrary to the tall image in Yang Zhan and Lin Su's hearts.

Therefore, they did not think that Zhu Gaoxu was joking.

"You should have never heard of it, do your own errands, and seek a good future for yourself and your family."

Zhu Gaoxu did not show the slightest sadness, but smiled on his face.

But it was this expression that made Yang Zhan and Lin Su look uncomfortable.

"Your Highness......" Yang Zhan was the first to speak, and he lowered his voice: "If something happens to you, the end will never let you be in prison." ”

"Yes!" Lin Su also agreed categorically, and increased his momentum: "Even if we are willing, the brothers of Bohai will not either, you are a meritorious and virtuous king to the imperial court, no matter how much you cut the domain, it will not be cut on you, if it really cuts on you......"

Lin Su pondered for a while, but soon became convinced: "Then it means that the person who wants to cut the feudal domain is a traitor and a faint king!" ”

With just one sentence, it is impossible for Lin Su to betray Zhu Gaoxu, after all, if one of his words leaks out, he will be liquidated in the future, which shows that he has already made up his mind.

"Indeed, whoever wants to attack you is a traitor and a faint king!"

Yang Zhan was not slow to react, and immediately expressed his attitude, but this scene seemed to Wang Yi behind Zhu Gaoxu, but it made him feel complicated.

He looked at the back of his highness and slowly lowered his head.

"Don't do that, you can live well, I'm happy for you, don't let me ruin this situation alone."

After that, Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand: "The team is far away, let's follow quickly." ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, we know what to do!"

The two returned the salute, then shook the reins and rode away.

Watching them leave, Zhu Gaochu didn't look away for a long time, until they completely disappeared into the sight of the team, Zhu Gaochu turned the horse's head, and laughed at himself when he passed by Wang Yi: "Hypocrisy, right? ”

"Your Highness...... It's also a helpless move, and even if the brothers know, they will be willing to support you. ”

Wang Yi broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, but he still said his true thoughts.

He admitted that Zhu Gaoxu's methods today violated his image in his heart, but he also knew that Zhu Gaochu was helpless.

Besides, virtue is an imaginary number, and a person like Wang Yi, who is over thirty years old, has his own standard for judging a person's quality or badness.

Zhu Gaoxu gave them high military salaries, gave them land and built houses, and in order to prevent them from being injured and dying, he also specially built hospitals and trained many military doctors with ingenuity and physical strength.

Wang Yi will not forget how he became the current commander from a hundred household officials, let alone what Jilin City was like before Zhu Gaoxu, and what Jilin City looked like under Zhu Gaoxu.

What Zhu Gaoxu gave them was something that others would not give, and they were even more reluctant to give.

With this alone, he must support Zhu Gaoxu and support his highness.

"Let's go, it's time to go home."

Listening to Wang Yi's answer, Zhu Gaoxu didn't have much expression, just gave an order, and walked slowly to the east alone.

Seeing this, Wang Yi immediately blew the wooden whistle and followed Zhu Gaoxu's footsteps with his soldiers and horses.

Each of them carried a bag of grain on their horses, which was the last thing Zhu Di did for Zhu Gaoxu, and he gave each of the 3,000 soldiers and horses from Bohai a stone of grain for the withdrawal of the army.

The distance from Wuliang Ha Bald City to the Nuwen River in the east is only 300 miles, which is only a four-day journey for the Bohai Navy.

In the middle reaches of the Fuwen River to the east, there were already nearly twenty horses and boats with 1,200 materials waiting for them.

In just four days, Zhu Gaoxu arrived in the area of Da'an with the Bohai Navy.

In later generations, there were more than 2 million acres of high-quality arable land here, but in the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago, it was still a mudflat.

In a little more than a month, 2,000 people who came by boat from the Bohai Sea built a ferry port on this mudflat.

If this ferry is not destroyed in the future, then this will be the bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty to occupy Modong by water in the future.

Even if this ferry port is destroyed, as long as Zhu Gaoxu's appeasement can succeed, it will not be a big problem to repair it.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu was almost clear about the navigation problem of Wenjiang (Nenjiang).

With a total length of more than 2,000 miles, the 700-mile waterway from the downstream to the Sancha River can be navigated by about 3,000 ships during the wet season, and can also be easily navigated by 1,000 ships during the dry season.

From the basin of Qiqihar in later generations, ships of about 500 materials can pass during the wet season, and ships of 200 materials can also pass during the dry season.

After figuring out these things, it will be much easier for Zhu Gaoxu to further penetrate into the Modong area in the future.

As long as they can gain a firm foothold in Modong in the future and open up a post road across the Great Xing'an Mountains like Zhu Di in history, the Ming army can go north from Kaipingwei in the future, and use the plain of Modong to produce grain and transport it to the army.

At that time, it only needs to be determined whether the fishing sea and the river can take about a hundred boats, and then the Ming army can organize an army of thousands of people for a long time and fight a tug-of-war with the Mongols in Mobei for a long time.

Of course, it's easy to say, but it's not so easy to actually do.

The specific situation still has to be sent to find out.

"Let's get on board......"

After clearing his thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu also took Wang Yi and them onto the horse boat on the ferry.

The horses were unsaddled and unloaded, and under the drive of hundreds of cavalry, the boats began to move down the Anwen River.

On the sixth day of the sixth month of June, Zhu Gaoxu returned to Zhaozhou City with 3,000 cavalry, while Zhu Di and the others were still on their way to retreat to Quanningwei.

It is not difficult to see how convenient a river is for war.

It took half a month for Zhu Di and them to travel by land from Quanningwei to Wuliang Ha Bald City, while Zhu Gaoxu only needed six days, saving them nine days.

If they encounter windy and sandy weather, Zhu Di and they will even spend more than 20 days, but Zhu Gaoxu will spend seven or eight days at most.

Ten more days and half a month would mean that tens of thousands of stones of grain would be consumed, so Zhu Yuanzhang decided to pour resources into the Bohai Sea after knowing that the Wenjiang River could be navigated.

It's a pity that not everyone has the same vision as him.

After returning to Zhaozhou City, Zhu Gaoxu briefly inquired about the progress of Zhaozhou City's reclamation in the past month or so.

Due to the large number of ploughing oxen and horses, the soybean fields outside Zhaozhou have reached more than 24,000 mu, and if nothing else, 30,000 mu can be used to plant beans after the beginning of spring next year to meet the daily needs of about 4,000 military horses.

Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied with this result, so after explaining how Wang Yi governed Zhaozhou City, he took a horse boat to Jilin City and set out on his way home.

On the ninth day of June, Zhu Gaoxu arrived in Jilin City.

Due to the notice of the pond ride of Jixiguan in advance, Yisha was waiting for Zhu Gaoxu at the pier early.

After Zhu Gaoxu got off the boat, he led the red horse who got off the boat early and an ordinary horse to greet him: "Your Highness......"

"How's it going in the city?" Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head, then took the reins of the red horse and turned over on the horse.

The same is true for Yishiha, but after getting on the horse, he followed Zhu Gaoxu to talk about the changes in Jilin City.

"At the shipyard, several masters have already started making the keel of a 2,000-material ship in advance according to what you said."

"Shipwright Liu and Shipwright Wang have both confirmed, and this batch of keels will be ready to use after the spring of next year."

"How many keels have been prepared?" Zhu Gaoxu rode his horse towards Jilin City, discussing business with Yishiha as he went.

"Twenty, all made according to the standards of warships." He also explained: "The horse ship must have a roasting field, and it will be able to make keels very quickly, and it will be possible to build a ship in about three months, and it will be launched in five months." ”

"Good!" Hearing Yi's words, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction, after all, the sea route was the killer weapon that he could catch the southern soldiers off guard.

As long as he goes south by sea, he can rely on strong ships and cannons to confront the southern army, which is several times larger than them.

The current problem is, in the final analysis, grain, so Zhu Gaoxu asked: "How much grain is still in the treasury?" ”

"Four hundred and ninety thousand stones." Yisha responded, and at the same time continued: "According to the current growth of grain, there should be about 500,000 stone of solid grain before winter. ”

"Over the wasteland, more than 90,000 acres have been newly opened up in Sanwan this year, and the town west of Jixi Fort has also been built, and more than 3,000 acres of fields have been opened."

"The site on the side of Changchun City has been selected, and the ruins of Long'an City in the pre-Jin period have been cleaned up, and a lot of bluestones that can be used have been cleaned up."

"At the current rate, a stone fort that can accommodate 5,000 people can be built out of cement in about four months."

"In addition, the south also sent the four thousand households promised by the imperial court, all of which were temporarily placed in Changchun City by slaves and maids......"

Speaking of this, Yisha lowered his voice: "There are fifteen thousand six hundred and twenty-seven people in those four thousand military households, but many of them are always looking for some news. ”

"In addition, the document on the side of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies also indicates that there are three thousand households with about 10,000 people, about 1,700 people, who are transferred to Jilin City and must be on duty in Jilin City."

Yisha has been in the Forbidden City for more than ten years, and he has naturally heard a lot of things mixed with sand.

It's just that it's the first time he's seen it with such blatant sand.

"Looks like the one from the south can't wait......"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Jilin City in the distance and whispered softly.

"South? Your Majesty? Obviously, Yizha didn't know the news that Zhu Yuanzhang had collapsed.

"There's no report from the south?" Hearing that Yizha didn't know the news of Zhu Yuanzhang's collapse, Zhu Gaoxu frowned and looked at him, but Yizha shook his head: "I didn't send it." ”

Yi Ha's words made Zhu Gaoxu smell that something was wrong.

The Ming Dynasty has a time limit for the official documents and official newspapers of the civil and military departments and yamen, and the "time limit" from the capital to the provincial governments, state guards, and offices is very strict.

The time from the capital to the yamen of the thirteen provincial political departments and the yamen of the provincial capital and the yamen of the Xuanfu department are all prescribed, and they can only be fast and not slow.

For example, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, which are close to Yingtian, have the basic regulations to be conveyed within 20 days.

For example, in Beiping, Shaanxi, and Fujian, it is required to be within 30 days.

As for the farther Liangguang, Yunnan and Shaanxi Xingdusi, Liaodong and other places, it basically ranges from 40 to 100 days.

If it is an urgent document such as the collapse of the emperor, then even Yunnan, which is relatively far away, will receive the news in 20 days at most.

Like Liaodong, it basically only takes fifteen days to receive news, and the longest of his Bohai Sea is only about twenty days.

If Lao Zhu collapsed on the 10th day of the fifth month as in history, then it stands to reason that the news should have arrived in Jilin.

"Is it possible...... Grandpa didn't die? ”

Thinking that Lao Zhu might not be dead, Zhu Gaoxu felt that his scalp was numb.

If Lao Zhu hadn't died, then many of the things he did were playing with fire and setting himself on fire.

Zhu Gaoxu is not afraid of facing hundreds of thousands of Southern Army, he is afraid of the hundreds of thousands of Southern Army under Zhu Yuanzhang.

If it is Zhu Yuanzhang who coordinates and Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong command, then let alone 600,000 Southern Army, it is 200,000 Southern Army, and he and his father Zhu Di may not be able to bear it.

Thinking of this, his palms sweated.

Just thought about it, Lao Zhu is so old, even if he can survive it, he won't be able to survive for too long, and he will continue to pretend.

After figuring out the sweaty palm with his fingers, Zhu Gaoxu settled down, and instructed Yishuha: "You pick a few people to find Zhou Ding, something should happen in the south." ”

"Yes!" Yizha also thought that Zhu Gaoxu was talking about something happening in the temple in the south, so he agreed.

"How's the production of things in Blackwater?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked again, but Yisha looked around and saw that no one was following, so he lowered his voice: "Small objects can be finished before winter at most, and large objects can be forged at the latest in spring." ”

He used the word forging, apparently referring to field artillery.

Field artillery and naval artillery, this is the key to whether Zhu Gaochu can quickly take Liaodong, Zhu Gaochu is very concerned, so he ordered: "Keep an eye on the matter, and don't let the four thousand households from the south know about this matter." ”

"Are the three thousand households going to be transferred to Jilin?" Yishaha's face was worried, but Zhu Gaoxu nodded indifferently.

"Let them come, I want to see what tricks they can make after they come to Jilin City."

"Even if you want to make trouble, you have to ask the 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Jilin City!"

(End of chapter)