"The sun is shining, and the Ming Dynasty is facing all countries. Haihan spring breeding, Yuanhua is the Quartet. The Chinese barbarians returned to the soil, and the grass, trees, insects and fish were sexual. His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Divine Scholar and the Holy Martial Arts, Zeng Zhi Ci Ren ......"

"Chenyuan is honest and frightened, and he is cautious."

At the end of July of the first year of Yongle, when Li Zhigang, the former secretary of the Ministry of Rites in Fengtian Temple, read out the letter of state written by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu to Zhu Di with an ugly face, not only his face was ugly, but the faces of the ministers were very ugly.

While their faces were ugly, they couldn't help but look up at Zhu Di, but Zhu Di, as the main owner, was holding a small bag containing a pile of placer gold the size of a baby's fist.

The ministers who didn't know the Japanese intelligence couldn't figure out why Emperor Taizu Gao couldn't get Japan to be a vassal for 30 years, but at the moment, the imperial court only sent a fleet of 20,000 people to the East Ocean, which could make Japan surrender and agree to carry out market trade in Hideki and Sado.

The development of the market trade represents Congliang, the largest smuggling partner of the coastal merchant gang, and this alone can make the coastal merchant gang lose millions of yuan.

Of course, what made them most uncomfortable was the vague amount of the market trade and the gold mining of Treasure Island.

Their discomfort was seen by Zhu Gaoxu, who was standing next to Zhu Di, and he couldn't help but sneer.

"Where is this, your good days are still to come."

Zhu Gaoxu looked sideways at the gold placer in Zhu Di's hand, he did not explain the gold and silver production of Treasure Island, but the ministers could also guess that it was not a lot.

"In March, the first and second batches of goods have been traded, and the imperial court has obtained a total of 1,000 horses, more than 127,000 copper coins, 260,000 catties of sulfur, 54,000 catties of sumu, and 150,000 catties of raw red copper."

"According to the calculations of the Ministry of Households, this secondary market trade alone has made the imperial court profit of more than 226,000 yuan."

"In addition, although the gold and silver produced by Treasure Island have not yet been concrete, the Yue Guogong should play no less than 100,000 yuan."

In the face of the hundred officials on the Fengtian Temple Square, as well as the high-ranking officials such as the six ministries and five prefectures on the high platform, Hubu Shangshu Yuxin walked out with a wat board and reported on the situation of the Japanese market.

The sentence 'profit of more than 226,000 guan' is enough for the imperial court to maintain the policy of the Japanese market, after all, the cost price of the goods brought by Zheng He is only more than 400,000 guan.

Now that less than one and a half percent of the goods are sold, the profit is so rich, and when the next trade in goods is over, then removing the cost price, the imperial court will make a profit of at least 1.23 million yuan.

You must know that after the Ming Dynasty's land taxes and miscellaneous items were all folded, the fiscal revenue was only 26,700 yuan, and now a Japanese market can increase so much income, so what about going to the South Seas and the West?

The faces of the officials in Jiangnan, Fujian and Zhejiang were ugly, but the officials from Jiangxi were silent.

Although Zhu Di's eyes were on the gold dust in his hand, he was vaguely watching the expressions of the ministers.

Seeing their ugly expressions, Zhu Di was a little more happy in his heart.

He suddenly understood his father's thoughts, and it was too comfortable to push people to the front to do things, and to sit back and enjoy this kind of thing.

Seize this opportunity, and you can also organize a trip to the West.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at his second child on the side, and urged in his heart: "Second child, speak quickly." ”

His gaze was noticed by Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu only felt helpless about this, but he still walked out and said: "Your Majesty, the Orient has been successful and on the right track. ”

"The minister thinks that when the fleet returns to Jiangnan, it should prepare to go to the South Seas."

"This ...... It's a bit of a rush. Zhu Di deliberately pretended to be very embarrassed.

When he said this, Zhu Gaoxu immediately glanced at Zhu Di: "This cheap dad is addicted, from the throne to the present." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks the prince is reasonable!"

Fortunately, there are also people who support Zhu Gaoxu, and Yuxin, the head of the household, is not afraid of offending people, so he bluntly agrees.

Previously, he felt that going to the East and the West would cost money and food, and that was because he had not yet seen the results.

But now that the Lower Oriental Trade has been very successful and not mentioned, the prince has also returned all the proceeds of the Lower Oriental Trade to the household department, which makes the waist pole of the household department a little harder.

You must know that during the Hongwu period, the household department was not so much a financial department as a statistical department, because Zhu Yuanzhang himself was energetic and capable, so he could allocate the resources of various ministries, and the finance controlled by the household department was only a part of the national finance.

Zhu Yuanzhang's team is only suitable for the strongman emperor, once the emperor's ability is mediocre, it will not be able to allocate the resources of various ministries at all, let alone give full play to the tax potential of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Gaoxu naturally knows how complicated the financial system of the Ming Dynasty is, so he is now solving some complicated problems to make the financial team of the Ming Dynasty less complicated.

As the secretary of the household department, Yu Xin is too aware of the changes brought by the new dynasty and the new policy to the household department, so he will choose to support the West.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks the prince is reasonable!"

After Yu Xin walked out, Jin Cha of the Tax Department, Huang Fu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Xia Yuanji, and others stood up to echo him.

The people of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies did not participate, so the only ones left who did not express their stance were Li Zhigang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Jianyi, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Liu Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of War.

Among them, Jian Yi is from Sichuan, Liu Jun is from Huguang, and going to the West cannot harm their interests, so they do not approve or oppose it, only Li Zhigang is really violated interests, but he does not dare to stand up and be this bird.

"In that case, then you will preside over the matter of going to the West, the crown prince."

Zhu Di pretended to be embarrassed, but Zhu Gaoxu responded generously, complaining in his heart about the old man's black belly.

After he stepped down and retreated to his position, Yu Xin and others also retreated to their positions.

Seeing that the ministers did not react, Zhu Di also opened his mouth to mention other things.

"The matter of tea horses in the west, since Emperor Taizu Gao, he has contributed a large number of horses to the imperial court, and now there is a shortage of horses in the national court, so I am ready to continue the tea and horse trade, and at the same time send the eunuch Hou Xian to inspect the Wusi Zangdu Division, the Duogandu Division, and the Oris Military and Civilian Marshal's Mansion."

Perhaps it was because Zhu Gaoxu managed his finances properly, or maybe the money and grain left by the old Zhu were not squandered by Zhu Yunwen, so Zhu Di put many plans on the process, such as sending Hou Xian to inspect Tibet and organize the tea and horse trade more than ten years in advance.

"I don't know how many soldiers and horses Your Majesty wants to mobilize, and how much food is there?"

Yu Xin stepped forward sensitively, but Zhu Di stroked his beard: "It is enough to bring 3,000 soldiers and horses, and as for the money and food, it will be calculated according to the needs of 3,000 soldiers and horses for six months." ”

"If that's the case, I think it's possible." Yu Xin breathed a sigh of relief, he was most worried that Zhu Di would consume all the income from the Oriental trade.

"I think it's possible." Zhu Gaoxu will also attack Qinghai-Tibet in the future, so Zhu Di's practice of sending Hou Xian to inspect Qinghai-Tibet is not inconsistent with his political views, and the cost is not much, and he should support it.

Seeing that Yu Xin and Zhu Gaoxu both supported it, the ministers had no reason to refute it, after all, 3,000 soldiers and horses patrolled for half a year, and at most it cost tens of thousands of yuan, compared with the dredging of the Yellow River, the canal, Wusong and other projects to build Beijing, it is simply not worth mentioning.

"Okay, if you have something to do, let's retreat if you have nothing to do."

Seeing that his policy was supported, Zhu Di had nothing else to say, so he announced his retirement from the dynasty.

When the ministers heard this, they didn't move, and their minds were all restrained by the matter of going to the West.

If going to the West can be as successful as the East Ocean, then the coastal merchant gang will really have no way to live.

While they were worried, the early dynasty also ended with Zhu Di's rise and the singing of the ministers pushing the golden mountain and the jade pillar.

Zhu Gaoxu took Yu Xin, Huang Fu, and Xia Yuanji to follow Zhu Di, and arrived at Wuying Hall after two quarters of an hour.

After entering here, Zhu Di sat on his dragon chair, and Zhu Gaoxu took Yu Xin and the three of them to discuss with Zhu Di about going to the West.

"After I said about going to the West today, the ministers' faces were not very good-looking, and my father knew why."

Zhu Gaoxu got straight to the point, and Zhu Di also bowed his head and said: "As soon as the Western Ocean is opened, many merchants along the coast will have no way to live, so the imperial court has encountered a lot of resistance, what do you think?" ”

In fact, Zhu Di was thinking about the government-run monopoly, he thought that Zhu Gaochu had the same idea as him, but Zhu Gaochu knew very well the advantages and disadvantages of the government-run monopoly, so he said:

"Erchen felt that the trade between Nanyang and the West must be in the hands of the imperial court, but at the same time, it was also necessary to give private merchants a way to live."

"Moreover, judging from the current situation of the imperial court, it is impossible to monopolize the Nanyang trade at the same time, and then monopolize the Western trade, so the ministers thought that they could open the Western trade to the private merchants, so that they could turn from smuggling to regularization."

"......" Listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, Zhu Di disagreed a little, of course, the disagreement here is still because of tax issues.

"If they are allowed to engage in Western trade, how should the imperial court collect taxes from them?"

"It is enough to set up the Old Port Propaganda Division in the Manraka Strait." Zhu Gaoxu said and looked behind Zhu Di.

Seeing this, Zhu Di also turned his head to look at the "General Map of the Four Yi Binfu in the World" behind him, and many place names on the map were changed by Zhu Gaoxu to fit the place names of this era, among which the Strait of Malacca was changed to the Manraka Strait.

Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward, skillfully picked up a dogma from Zhu Di's desk and pointed to the Manraka Strait: "The reason why it is difficult for the imperial court to collect taxes is mainly because the imperial court has a lot of land and resources, and there are too many places along the coast that can be smuggled and smuggled. ”

"However, if the South Sea and the East Ocean are set up as government trade areas, and the West Ocean is set up as a private trade area, and it is stipulated that private merchants and seagoing ships can gather in the Manraka Strait and depart for trade in the Western Ocean, and all goods are concentrated in the Old Port and Palembang area for trade processing, then it will be easier to manage and collect taxes."

"The specific operation situation, Erchen will hand over a copy to you in a few days for reading."

Zhu Gaoxu said, but Zhu Di got up and walked up to look at the map, and then frowned:

"It's good that you want to open a consolation division here, but don't you have many small countries on this map, how are you going to treat them?"

"You can follow the example of the Japanese market, divide land for trade in the local area, and provide a certain amount of money and grain every year as rent." Zhu Gaoxu responded, but Zhu Di frowned:

"If the interests of these small countries are consumed afterwards, what should happen to the Xuanwei Division of the Imperial Court?"

Many of Zhu Gaoxu's ideas came from Zhu Di's ideas in history, so after Zhu Di heard Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts, he immediately thought of what might be encountered.

However, in this regard, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and said: "That is why they are killing themselves, and the court can only defend themselves and fight back." ”

Zhu Gaoxu's smile was warm and comfortable, but the meaning of his words was understood by everyone.

If the small countries really have the interest to attack the Imperial Court's Xuanwei Division, then they will naturally usher in their destruction.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to maintain the tributary system, it is impossible to show too much power, not only for Annam but also for the Nanyang countries, first of all, there must be an excuse to move troops.

Annan was because he instigated the Ming Tusi to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, and the Nanyang countries were interested in attacking the Ming Dynasty.

In terms of public opinion, Daming must occupy an invincible position, so that he can continue to use both grace and power.

"What do you mean by that this place will rebel in the future?"

Zhu Di heard a different meaning from Zhu Gaoxu's words, so he raised his hand and pointed to Japan in the northeast of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Gaoxu did not hide it, and pointed at Japan with dogma and said:

"As far as his son knows, the Japanese lord Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is very dependent on the Ming Dynasty, but his eldest son Ashikaga Yoshinori thinks it is a shame to be a minister to the Ming Dynasty."

"But apart from his eldest son, his other sons don't think so."

"Therefore, if Ashikaga Yoshimitsu dies in a sudden change, then the successor Ashikaga Yoshinori will definitely interrupt the market trade with the imperial court, and even think about recovering the hidden differences and the gold and silver islands."

Before Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhu Di: "So your idea is to take advantage of the fact that they will suspend the market trade in the future and take the opportunity to meddle in their domestic affairs?" ”

"That's right!" Zhu Gaoxu said: "The Ashikaga family's control over Japan is very weak, but the majesty of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu suppresses Japan. ”

"Once Ashikaga Yoshinori rebels against the imperial court and is defeated by the imperial court, then whether he reigns or not, the prestige of the Ashikaga family will be destroyed."

"In this case, if they still want to continue to maintain the situation, they can only negotiate peace with the imperial court and accept the support of the imperial court."

His voice fell, and his eyes looked directly at Zhu Di, who stroked his beard when he heard this: "If it is really according to what you said, this small Japan also has a population of tens of millions, then this is a way to maintain stability." ”

When he says this, it means that he has approved of it.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaochu also pointed to the Qinghai-Tibet region, because he was not very familiar with Qinghai-Tibet in this era, so Zhu Gaochu only drew a few cities in the Ming records, the most important of which were Lhasa, Nagqu, Shigatse and Santang, Qamdo, Dege, and Leh regions.

"Today, my father said about Wusizang, and the kid also looked through the ancient books, and found out from the former Yuan classics that the population of Wusizang, Oli, and Duogan should be about one million."

"This place is no longer warm in the Han and Tang Dynasties, so it is difficult for the population to grow, and it is enough to control them only by using the tea and horse economy, but to meddle in their internal affairs, they still have to station troops in Lhasa, Qamdo, Durge, Shigatse, and Leh areas, and send officials from the Ministry of Rites to be stationed there."

Zhu Gaoxu expressed his thoughts and was sure that Zhu Di would also approve of it, because in history, Zhu Di originally wanted to send troops to garrison Lhasa, and built a post road from Songpan to Shigatse, but was finally dissuaded by the three kings before giving up.

Of course, the real reason for the abandonment was because the forces of Qinghai and Tibet could not threaten the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the lack of financial resources.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu is here, it is necessary to forcibly confine the Qinghai-Tibet region, and if it cannot maintain tens of thousands of people, it is enough for him to maintain a few thousand.

There are cannons and arquebuses, and if they are paired with a certain number of cavalry, the thousands of Ming troops are enough to defeat tens of thousands of armor soldiers, and in the entire Qinghai-Tibet forces, there are very few forces that can pull out tens of thousands of armor soldiers.

"The affairs of Tibet will be put aside for now, and I am more concerned about the affairs of Annam and the Uliangha, Tatar, and Warat in the north."

Zhu Di, as in history, attached great importance to Tibet, but his status was not as good as that of Mongolia and Southeast Asia.

Faced with his question, Zhu Gaoxu led the topic to Annan.

"Half a month ago, Fu Rang and Zhang Fu had already led the trained soldiers south, and they would arrive in Qinzhou by the end of August."

"Cao Guogong has mobilized 30,000 troops to Qinzhou to participate in training, and this training will last for about a year, and he will be able to send troops to Annam in the winter of next year."

"But before that, for those toasts instigated by Annan, the imperial court should give them a back step and let them make things bigger."

"In addition, while there is still one year to go, it is just right to transfer the tax grain from Liangguang to Qinzhou, and at the same time organize a naval fleet to go to Qinzhou to garrison."

"In the winter of next year, Xiping Hou Muchun led 30,000 troops from Lin'an Mansion, Fu Rang led 30,000 troops from Jiling Pass, Zheng He and Yang Zhan led 20,000 troops from the sea to attack Thanh Hoa, Guangping, Guangnan, Hue and other places, and at the same time Cao Guogong led 30,000 soldiers to start the encirclement and suppression of Tusi in Yunnan and Guangxi and close to Annan."

While Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, he also used dogma to draw a route for attacking Annan.

In a few words, the Ming Dynasty needed to mobilize 110,000 troops, of which 50,000 were new firearms mixed troops.

According to his plan, Zhu Di took a closer look, and then asked: "What is the distance between places?" ”

"The farthest is the soldiers and horses of Xiping Hou Muchun, which need to go deep for four hundred miles, followed by Fu Rang, who needs to go deep for three hundred and eighty miles, followed by the soldiers and horses of Zheng He and Yang Zhan, although the north-south span is eight hundred miles, but their soldiers are divided into four roads, and each road is maintained at about two hundred miles."

Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Di subconsciously pointed out: "According to this fight, Yunnan will have at least 120,000 people, and Guangxi will have at least 100,000, and it must be fast, because the navy has no supply of people, and it is easy to be contained." ”

"This war must end within three months, and all that remains is to sweep the tail."

"As for Li Jiujiang's side, it is enough to recruit 30,000 people to fight slowly."

"Indeed." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and agreed with Zhu Di's judgment.

After reading many military books compiled by Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di was already very familiar with firearms warfare, and although he had not personally led it, he did not lack theoretical knowledge.

He easily judged the number of men needed for each army, and estimated the approximate time of the end of the war.

In the face of a small Annan, three months is enough time to take most of the towns, and the rest of the sweeping work is a troublesome matter.

"Yu Shangshu, how much food does it take for 110,000 troops and 250,000 people to fight for half a year?"

Zhu Di was recognized, and asked Yu Xin without looking back.

In this regard, Yu Xin had already prepared and reported without thinking: "800,000 stones, but counting the loss on the road, at least 1.2 million stones." ”

"One million and two million stones, counting the reserve warehouses and Changping positions in Yunnan and Liangguang, can they be withdrawn?" Zhu Di asked again, but Yu Xin nodded after calculating: "If you reserve from now on, it should be enough." ”

"Good! Then prepare well, and ...... "Zhu Di looked back at Zhu Gaoxu:

"What is the situation in Liaodong and the Bohai Sea, and can the grain and grass in Zhaozhou be stored enough?"

Sure enough, the reason why Zhu Di was in a hurry to fight Annan was for his northern expedition.

Although Zhu Gaoxu was prepared for this, when he thought of Zhu Di running to the north to fight and throwing all the stalls in the south to himself, he couldn't help but sigh helplessly, and then made a move:

"According to the progress, it will not be a problem for the cultivated land outside the customs to exceed 9 million mu this year, and Bohai will be able to surplus at least 1.5 million stones next year, but one million of them will be transported to northern Liaobei and about 500,000 stones to Zhaozhou."

"Counting the grain left by myself last year, there should be 620,000 stone in Zhaozhou."

"Good, good!" Hearing that there could be so much grain in Zhaozhou, Zhu Di's face immediately smiled as bright as a chrysanthemum.

The more grain in Zhaozhou, the less food the army needed to pull grain from Daning.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but want to increase the number of soldiers and horses in the north, so he tentatively said to Zhu Gaoxu: "I think it's easy for 20,000 or 30,000 people to defeat Uliangha, but it's a little difficult to expel them, why don't you transfer 20,000 Shenji battalions and 30,000 horse infantry?" ”

"Bohai can't draw so many people." Zhu Gaoxu still didn't know Zhu Di's thoughts, so he directly rejected it because of the lack of people.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Zhu Di bargained and said: "The people are mobilized from Hanzhou in Liaodong, anyway, relying on the Annoying Wenjiang River, 50,000 people cooperate with the carriage to supply 50,000 soldiers and horses." ”

Seeing that Zhu Di was determined to increase the number of soldiers and horses in the north, Zhu Gaoxu could only sigh in his heart and take a step back.

"At present, Liaodong can't draw so many carriages, you can recruit up to 30,000 soldiers and horses in the north, and the people will maintain a maximum of 30,000, otherwise the impact on the development of Liaodong will be too great."

"Thirty thousand ......" Zhu Di touched his beard, and after thinking about it, he was satisfied: "Thirty thousand can barely be used." ”

The bargain was successful, and Zhu Di began to bargain further, but this time the purpose was not the Northern Expedition, but the East.

"Although there are 3,000 soldiers and horses on the Oriental side, if the remaining generals have bad intentions, the loss of the imperial court will be too great."

As soon as Zhu Di spoke, Zhu Gaoxu felt that something was wrong.

"Why don't you send a few overseers from the inner court?"

"Your Majesty, no!"

Sure enough, Zhu Di wanted to use eunuchs to supervise the army, which also caused Yu Xin, Huang Fu and others to worry.

"Father, how many people like Zheng He, Wang Yan, and Hou Xian are there around you?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not directly object, but asked Zhu Di rhetorically.

As soon as he said this, Zhu Di thought of Queen Xu's words, and couldn't help but lose his confidence.

"You, like your mother, know how to be angry." Zhu Di complained, and then waved his hand:

"That's it, if you don't send it, you won't send it, but if something happens in the future, you can wipe your ass yourself."

"Thank you father for your understanding." Zhu Gaoxu laughed when he heard this, and returned the salute:

"Since there is nothing to do, the minister will return to the East Palace to deal with the slack."

"Go farther, don't get in the way." Zhu Di had a temper, but Zhu Gaoxu was not angry, and left Wuying Hall with Yu Xin and the others with a smile.

But after they left, Zhu Di muttered in self-doubt:

"I don't believe it, I can't find a few eunuchs around me who can be used......"

"Records of Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In August, the eunuch wanted to send the eunuch to the East, but he was persuaded by the prince and Shangshu Yuxin, Huang Fu, and Xia Yuanji, so he gave up. ”

(End of chapter)