"Keep saying that Shanhaiguan is extremely strong, it is the first pass in the north, but now it is only besieged and attacked for less than two months and it was taken by the rebels, if he didn't know how to be loyal to the country, how could I bear him!"

In mid-September, when Geng Zheng, Wu Shouan and others were killed in battle, and the news that all Liaodong was lost except for Jiulian City reached the capital, Zhu Yunwen irritably threw his hand on the table.

At this moment, there are no outsiders in the hall, only him and the eunuch Li Quan in the palm seal, so he can vent his temper unscrupulously.

"Your Majesty......" Li Quan saw that Zhu Yunwen's temper was gradually subsiding, so he took out the recital of the household department and said:

"Hubu Shangshu Yu Xin begs the old man, this is this year's "Money and Grain Tax Book" sent by Wang Yu, please read it."

Li Quan stepped forward cautiously and handed the song to Zhu Yunwen with both hands, and Zhu Yunwen also looked at it at a glance after taking it, but the more he looked at it, the more he frowned.

The defeat of Geng Bingwen in the north caused the imperial court to lose millions of stone money and grain and many materials, and now Li Jinglong is in command to transfer troops, and many three million stone grains are transferred to Dezhou in one go.

Coupled with this year's Jiangnan tax deduction policy, this year's Ming Dynasty actually rarely exceeded the budget, and the fiscal revenue reached minus 5 million stones, more than 2 million yuan.

If this is the case every year, then the foundation left by Zhu Yuanzhang will be enough for the imperial court to eat for fifteen years at most.

"How can you spend so much......

Zhu Yunwen rummaged for something wrong, among which the rebellion in Yunnan and Sichuan was one of the main reasons for this year's negative income.

Because Zhu Yunwen's eyes were on the north before, in July this year, the Daxue Mountain rebelled and plundered many mines, causing many mines to stop work and reducing the income of nearly 600,000 yuan.

The southwest counterinsurgency has been dragging on, consuming more than 100,000 stone every month, and at least more than 1.7 million stone has been consumed in the past nine months.

These things restrained Daming's hands and feet, and even more caused Daming's financial problems.

"In the past, this guy was obedient, but now he dares to come and rob my Celestial Empire!"

Zhu Yunwen's words were full of anger, of course, he also knew that this was a reaction caused by Southwest Mining.

Many of the mining areas were originally where the Hello lived, and after the Ming mined the gold, silver and copper mines, they were driven deeper into the mountains.

In those places, they could not support themselves, so they had to go down the mountain to rob the Han Chinese.

Zhu Yunwen is aware of these things, but it does not mean that he needs to compromise.

"Order Qu Neng to lead his troops back to Sichuan to quell the rebellion!"

He gave an order to Li Quan, and then closed the booklet and no longer discussed the affairs of the household department.

After all, in his opinion, as long as the rebellion in the north is put down, the finances will soon be restored to normal.

He turned his thoughts to the north, and at his behest, a month earlier, the war machine left behind by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor, began to be fully launched.

The soldiers and horses of Miao Yao in Huguang and Guangdong were transferred, and the soldiers and horses of Fujian and Zhejiang were transferred.

The 16 guards of Zhili were transferred, the iron cavalry in Beijing was transferred, the Ganliang iron cavalry in the northwest was transferred, and the soldiers and horses of Pingqiang in Shaanxi were transferred...... and Liu Zhen, who had just withdrawn from Jiulian City to Liaodong, also marched to Dezhou with the first batch of 3,000 soldiers and horses.

As for the soldiers in Jiangxi, Henan and other places, not to mention.

For a time, all the soldiers from all over the country were drawn, and as the general who commanded their conquest, Li Jinglong had already arrived north in Dongchang, which was only two hundred miles away from Dezhou.

He dispatched more than 70,000 troops to Texas, preparing to use the winter to train the defeated 70,000 troops in Texas, otherwise with their current situation, even if they went to the battlefield, they would not be able to use it.

Compared with Geng Bingwen, Li Jinglong commanded 70,000 people to be captured, and the supplies along the way were arranged outside the city by various state capitals and counties, and Wu Gao's 7,000 iron horsemen who were in Beijing to listen to the drill were sent to supervise them, and no soldiers and horses were allowed to enter the city to rest.

He knew very well that after a great defeat, the soldiers would have a pent-up of emotions and could easily be stimulated and released.

At such times, it is necessary to strictly manage the army in order to prevent them from becoming undisciplined thieves.

At the same time, he personally went north to Hezhou, and asked Ping'an to lead the five thousand Shanxi cavalry under Xu Kai to the south of Dezhou, listen to his moderation, and let Xu Kai defend it to the death, and wait until the soldiers and horses in the south are assembled.

Acting in this way naturally prevented the military and the people from committing crimes, but doing so would inevitably lead many people to impeach him for being too strict in governing the army.

Zhu Yunwen also asked Huang Zicheng and others, but they rarely recognized Li Jinglong's style, and thought that if the army was not strictly governed, wouldn't it be a mediocre talent to respond to Zhu Yunwen.

When Zhu Yunwen heard this, he didn't ask Li Jinglong anymore, and he didn't urge him, but just asked him to lead the troops well, and stop making a scene about being served by Yan Yi.

In response to this request, Li Jinglong responded to him in a respectful handwriting, sincerely telling the situation he had encountered, and promising to build everything before the beginning of winter, and go north to defeat the Yan army after the beginning of spring next year.

got a response, Zhu Yunwen no longer interfered in the military affairs in the north, but handed it over to Li Jinglong, and at the same time, soldiers and horses from all over the country also gathered in Texas.

Such a situation made the generals in Beiping very nervous, and the sound of dripping water could be heard quietly in the carrier hall of Beiping Yan Mansion.

Looking at the people in the hall, Zhu Di knew very well what they were worried about, after all, Li Jinglong was a national military training, and he followed Fu Youde, Lan Yu, Feng Sheng and others to conquer the generals in the north and south, he was familiar with the combat methods of any capital division soldiers and horses, and he also knew how to train them, and he knew better what the situation in Beiping was.

In the face of such an opponent, it is strange that the generals are not worried.

"Yesterday, the spy news came that Li Jinglong had taken a boat along the canal north to Dezhou, and collected Geng Bingwen's defeated generals, and the imperial court in the south also mobilized more than 200,000 soldiers and horses to go north......

Zhu Di was the first to speak about the situation, and then said: "You are afraid of Li Jiujiang (Li Jinglong's cousin), but I am not afraid of him." ”

"That Li Jiujiang's raised son, scheming and arrogant, fierce and discouraged, jealous and self-serving, and has never led tens of thousands of troops to break the enemy in battle."

"Now, my nephew has transferred 300,000 troops for his use, and he is completely pushing himself into the fire pit."

"I heard that Han Gaozu is generous, knows people well, and makes heroes useful, but he can use 100,000, so how talented Li Jiujiang is, and he dares to dispatch 300,000 troops, now it seems that he is just a Zhao Kuo, and Zhao Kuo's defeat is a lesson for him."

......Listening to Zhu Di's self-boasting and belittling Li Jinglong's words, the generals looked at each other one after another, thinking that it would be good if Li Jinglong was really as straw as His Royal Highness said.

"Your Highness thinks that Li Jinglong doesn't know about the military?" Zhang Yu asked Zhu Di head-on, worried that Zhu Di would be proud and complacent because he defeated Geng Bingwen.

It's just that in the face of his inquiry, Zhu Di smiled honestly: "There are five defeats in the art of war, and Jinglong has made ...... mistakes."

"First, in order to not repair government decrees, discipline is not in order, the upper and lower levels are dissenting, and life and death are separated."

"Second, it is cold in the north today, and the south is not full of brown and cold, covered with frost and snow, wrinkled hands and feet, and even fallen fingers, and the soldiers have no food, and the horses have no lodging."

"Third, it is not easy to measure the risks, but to go deep and seek profits."

"Fourth, greed but not cure, lack of wisdom and trust, full of anger and fear, benevolence and bravery, authority is not good, and the three armies are easy to scratch.

"Fifth, its parts are noisy, the golden drum is unknotted, it is good to be happy, and it is a full-time villain."

"These five are the reason why Li Jiujiang will be defeated by me!"

Zhu Di did not hesitate to praise himself and belittle Li Jinglong, in order to boost morale.

Although the generals didn't care, they could also understand Zhu Di's good intentions and attacked him one after another.

"Boss, how are things going on the second side?"

Zhu Di set his sights on Zhu Gaochi, after all, he really let him alone take on Li Jinglong's 300,000 army, he was still a little weak in his heart, but if his second brother entered the customs with tens of thousands of troops outside the customs, then he would have confidence.

Faced with the problem, Zhu Gaochi also said: "The more than 840,000 stone grain captured in the four wars of the south last time has been put into storage, of which 500,000 yuan and the previous 1 million have been escorted to Guangning by Fang Tongzhi. ”

"After Gao Xu's side took the Shanhai Pass, he wrote to me, saying that he would send Wang Yi to command 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 Daning infantry to go south under your control."

"Twenty thousand horse infantry?" When Zhu Di heard this, he immediately became happy, knowing that even after he defeated Geng Bingwen, there were only 30,000 horseback infantry in his hands.

Now Zhu Gaoxu has sent 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 foot soldiers at once, a total of 50,000 troops, and it can be said that he has taken out a huge amount of capital.

However, in addition to being happy, Zhu Di still coveted Zhu Gaochu's cavalry, so he explained to Zhu Gaochi: "You write back to Gao Xu, saying that there are not many cavalry and horse infantry on our side, so can he send some more." ”

"In addition, I heard that he has four battalions of divine machines, can you divide two to help us defend the city, this battle is over, I will definitely pay him back."

Zhu Di's words can no longer be regarded as a lion's big mouth, it is simply an excuse for parents to help their children keep the New Year's money, whether they have savings or not.

Even the clumsy Qiu Fu could see this little thought, let alone Zhu Gaochi.

"Dad, I don't think Gao Xu will give it, he said in the letter, that's all, he has other useful points."

Zhu Gaochi reluctantly spoke, and Zhu Di, who was expected by Zhu Gaochu in advance, was also a little deflated, but when he thought that there would be another 50,000 troops going south to listen to his moderation, he was still happy in his heart.

After being happy for a while, he slowly said to the generals: "At present, our army has reorganized 50,000 soldiers and horses, and we have obtained 50,000 soldiers and horses from the second brother's side, counting the casualties of the previous southward trip, there are still 160,000 soldiers and horses available, including 10,000 cavalry, 50,000 horse infantry, and 100,000 foot soldiers." ”

"This Li Jiujiang doesn't dare to fight us in winter, and it will definitely be delayed until the beginning of spring next year."

"Seize this opportunity, we have to train our troops well, except for the 40,000 foot soldiers in Yongping, Juyongguan and Beiping who do not need to participate in the whole training, the remaining 120,000 soldiers and horses have to have a big training, so that they can cooperate tacitly when they go south."

Zhu Di wanted to seize the time to train the army, and after Zhu Gaochi heard everything, he also wrote Zhu Di's arrangements into a letter with complicated emotions, preparing to have someone send it to Zhu Gaochu afterwards.

The hour-long deliberations finally ended, and Zhu Gaochi took the written letter back to his Shizi Mansion.

It's just that before getting out of the carriage, he looked up at the plaque of the Shizifu and had mixed feelings.

When he walked into the prince's mansion, he heard the child's cry.

He hurriedly walked into the palace of the prince, and sure enough, he saw a pretty woman holding a doll that was crying.

"Is the kid crying again? Didn't feed or what's wrong? ”

Zhu Gaochi ran to the woman and sat down, took the doll from his hand, and his face was full of smiles, not as complicated as before.

"Zhanji, this kid doesn't know why, he has been crying since his father and second brother started the army, and recently after Shanhaiguan was taken, he cried from time to time."

The woman in the palace dress frowned and said to Zhu Gaochi, but Zhu Gaochi smiled like Maitreya Buddha: "Child, dogs are disgusted at this age, and it is normal to cry often." ”

"Now that the situation is good, although Li Jinglong went north to control the 300,000 army, we also have about 200,000 on our side, so we don't have to be afraid of him at all."

"I look at my father's appearance, it seems that he is ready to take advantage of the stalemate stage to write another letter to the south to see if he can negotiate peace."

Zhu Gaochi talked to the woman next to him, and this woman was naturally the wife Zhang that Zhu Yuanzhang chose for him.

The concubines of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaochu were all selected by Zhu Yuanzhang together, and the wedding day was not far behind.

Zhang's general knowledge is general and empathetic, so when he heard Zhu Gaochi mention the war, Zhang's frowned slightly and said worriedly: "You should worry about yourself first." ”

"Have you thought about what I told you last time?"

The thing in Zhang's mouth is that she saw that Zhu Gaochu was powerful and persuaded Zhu Gaochi.

"Are you going to fight him, or not?"

"Give a letter as early as possible, lest our family end up with Li Jiancheng."

Her words hit into Zhu Gaochi's heart word by word, but in the face of his words, Zhu Gaochi's smiling face slowly faded, but it was not cold, and he just said like an ordinary person's chatter:

"Do you think that I can get off the throne if I want to?"

"Except for a few subordinate officials around you, and there is no one else with you, what can't you do." Zhang glanced at Zhu Gaochi, only to feel that this dead fat man always took himself in circles.

"Let me ask you......" Zhu Gaochi glanced outside the hall, and then whispered to Zhang: "Now do you think it is me or my father who should worry about this matter?" ”

"I'll tell you first, today the second child took out 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 foot soldiers to my father in one breath, not to mention me and my father, even my grandfather has to climb out of the filial piety tomb......"

"Stop, stop! Less scare me. Zhang asked Zhu Gaochi to stop: "If the old man really climbs out, one of the three of you is counted as one, but if you can still stand and talk to him, I will immediately jump into the river with my son." ”

"Eh, eh...... You can't say that. Zhu Gaochi was not angry when his daughter-in-law dismissed his face, but just said with a smile:

"In short, the foundation of the second child is getting thicker and thicker, do you think my father is afraid that I will become Li Jiancheng, or is he afraid that he will become Li Yuan?"

"That's not it......" Zhang hesitated to speak, he didn't think that Zhu Di would be able to beat Zhu Gaoxu.

"That's what I said." Zhu Gaochi stretched out a hand and pointed at the air:

"If the court in the south suddenly opens up, canonizes the second child as the prince, and comes to provoke the relationship between my father and the second child, what do you think will happen to the second child."

"I haven't met him again, how do you know." Zhang stretched out his hand and pinched Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaochi didn't dare to sell Guan Zi in pain, and hurriedly said:

"I've seen it, and I'll tell you, the second child will definitely not agree, because the second child doesn't want the prince, he wants the throne."

"How dare you say it!" Zhang's fingers were strong, obviously not believing Zhu Gaochi's nonsense.

In her opinion, although the Yan Mansion defeated Geng Bingwen, the southern court was still powerful, and the money and grain were dozens of times that of the Yan Mansion.

Before the last moment, who would dare to think about the throne.

"That's because you don't know him." Zhu Gaochi pushed her hand away, rubbed his aching hand, and then hugged Zhu Zhanji to Zhang, got up and walked in the hall, chattering:

"I know him too well, he used to do a lot of things in Nanjing, at that time I thought he was just making trouble, and the big deal was that he wanted to be a son of the world."

"It's just that later my grandfather canonized me the throne, and when I went to see him again, he still talked and laughed with me, and that smile was ......."

Zhu Gaochi sighed a few times: "I was panicked when I saw it, for fear that he would kill me with one punch." ”

He put his hands in his sleeves, shook his head and said: "Later, when he went to Bohai and continued to expand his army and smuggle iron materials, I knew that his mind was not simple. ”

"And then the things he did later, how strange I think it is, it doesn't look like what a county king or even a prince should do."

"Tell me...... That Juntian, tax exemption, private recruitment, and mutual trade with the Jurchens, not to mention him, even my father would not dare to do these things. ”

"However, the second child dares to do it, and even if he knows that my grandfather has someone by his side, he will do it, and he is not afraid that my grandfather will deal with him."

"Now that I think about it, the second child knows exactly what my grandfather's bottom line is, so he is not afraid at all."

"Think about it, that's my grandfather, my father has to shake into a sieve when he sees it, but the second child dares to jump under my grandfather's nose."

Zhu Gaochi kept his mouth sipping, as if he was admiring Zhu Gaochu.

"That means he wants to be emperor?" Zhang didn't believe it, after all, the emperor was not so easy to do.

"These can't be explained yet, but after my grandfather is gone, you look at the actions of the second child."

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when he thought of Zhu Gaochu's actions.

"When we were still in the capital, the second child instigated my father and asked him to take the soldiers and horses of the Sandu Division to Jingjing directly."

"Think about it, if my father really listened to the second child at that time, would we and the third child still have a way to live?"

Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhang, and Zhang's heart was furious when he said this: "Your second brother doesn't even care about the life and death of your two brothers?" ”

"I definitely care, but the second child will weigh the pros and cons." Zhu Gaochi said:

"If my father takes the soldiers and horses of Sandu Division to the south, then the biggest threat to the second child is me."

"If I am killed, the second prince's position will be stable."

"It's just that my father didn't agree, and then you know the rest of the matter, the second brother started the army, and his strength is getting bigger and bigger."

"Right now, the second brother controls the two capitals alone, and my father doesn't even have half of them, just two mansions."

"The second child's threat now is not me, it's my father's mind."

"My dad doesn't understand, maybe he's still worried about us."

"Then naturally we have to worry about us, otherwise, according to what you said, the second child will still have a way to live after he takes the position?" Zhang hurriedly spoke, but Zhu Gaochi shook his head and said:

"You're wrong, if the second child is in the position now, our family will definitely be fine, because the second child doesn't look down on our family at all."

"The second child is arrogant, but he is more broad-minded than my father, and he is generous enough."

"If his position as the crown prince is secured, not only will we be fine, but we will also be rewarded and properly settled."

"Then what are you hesitating about, give up your position early." Zhang interrupted, but Zhu Gaochi sighed:

"I want to too, but before the capital, my father and second child completely tear their faces, I can only sit on this rickety chair, and I can't go up or down."

Zhu Gaochi suddenly felt that he was very bitter, meeting such a grandfather, such a father, and such a younger brother......

He is now completely a stone that balances Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, he can't go down too early, he can't go down too late, he has to step down by himself at a suitable time.

If you go early, Zhu Di's subordinates will feel that Zhu Di is afraid of Zhu Gaoxu, and they will take refuge in Zhu Gaochu one after another.

Later, Zhu Gaoxu's side is afraid that there will be a Xuanwumen change to force the palace.

"And when can you get down?"

Zhang's heart hung in his heart, for fear that Zhu Gaochi would not figure out how to fight for the throne.

"When they enter the capital, I will be able to go down."

"Before this, our family couldn't leave the Yanwang Mansion for a single step."

Zhu Gaochi saw clearly that he couldn't compete with Zhu Gaoxu, and if he really dared to fight with Zhu Gaochu, he had no doubt that Zhu Gaochu would condone a Xuanwumen change under his men.

What he can do now is to help Zhu Di stabilize his subordinates so that Zhu Di will not be set aside.

His thoughts are also Zhu Di's thoughts now, but in terms of family affection, Zhu Gaochi still underestimates Zhu Di.

"You're so wary of your own son?"

In the former dormitory, which was only a few hundred steps away from the Shizi's Mansion, Zhu Di also discussed with the Xu family about the Shiziwei and Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Di said that he couldn't let Zhu Gaochi step down in advance, because that would cause Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu, and Zhu Neng, who were already favoring Zhu Gaochu, to throw themselves into him, causing him to be set aside.

However, he was not for himself, but for Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui.

"I can't see through the second ......"

Sitting next to the Xu family in the hall, Zhu Di's face was full of sadness: "I don't know if I let the eldest step down and help the second child up, then the second child will be ruthless to the boss and the third child in the future." ”

"My father said that the second child is cunning and ruthless, and you and I know what the second child used to be."

"You say, if the second child has changed his personality in the past few years, he will have no military power in his hands, and if he wants to do something to the boss, what will I do to protect the boss and the third child at that time."

Zhu Di was worried too much, and the reason was that he couldn't see through Zhu Gaoxu.

It's just that compared to him, Xu shook his head: "I don't think the second child will be like that." ”

"Why?" Zhu Di glanced down at Xu, but followed Xu's gaze to the letter on the table.

Looking at the pile of letters written by Zhu Gaoxu himself, Xu smiled:

"The second child is still kind, he just pretends to be fierce......"

"Ming Shizong Record": "Jinglong drove 300,000 troops to the north, and when he heard that Taizong was in danger, he sent 50,000 Wang Yima infantry to aid Beiping. ”

"History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of King Yan": "King Yan Gao Chi, the eldest son of Emperor Taizong Wen, the eldest brother of Emperor Shizong Wu, when he was young, he went to Beijing with Shizong, and said that my brother has a royal spirit, but Taizu wanted to curb Taizong, and Shizong was in Jilin, and gave the son of the world to be located in Gaochi, Gao Chi heard and said, "My brother has a royal spirit, I temporarily replace him, and when the time comes, it is still located in my brother." ”

(End of chapter)