"Let's take a look at the store!"

"I just arrived today in the Yangtze River, and the fish in the East China Sea, fresh!"

"Let's say that I, Emperor Gao of the Ming Dynasty, Dingding Nanjing, are in the four seas, and the five directions are bustling, it is really Elysium."

"What do you say about Shennong, Yao, Shun, Ji, Deed, Kui......"

"Crackling!!"

"Where did the candidates get the jinshi?"

In April, the bustling streets, the shouting and storytelling in the restaurants, and the sound of firecrackers outside the street from time to time, and the surprised voices of passers-by formed a picture of fireworks in the world.

Sitting in the private room of a restaurant in the inner city, Zhu Gaoxu listened to the voices on the street, and couldn't help but look up at Guo Yan, who was not very good-looking in front of him.

"Don't worry, Grandpa will be fine."

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Guo Yan and mentioned Guo Ying.

It is now the fourth year of Yongle, and Guo Ying has reached the age of sixty-eight.

Since the beginning of spring, Guo Ying's health has not been good, so he also took a month off from the National Defense University.

Today, Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan walked out of the palace to go to the Marquis of Wuding's mansion to see Guo Ying, but his condition was not very good, the whole person was much thinner than before, and the scars on his body began to ache faintly.

His current situation is the same as when Zhu Gaoxu first saw the sick Fu Youde, the difference is that Fu Youde at that time no longer had the idea of surviving, while Guo Ying's idea of surviving was still very strong.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know if Guo Ying could survive this hurdle, after all, compared with history, he had less than a few months of running around in the Battle of Jingjing, so he lived nearly a year longer than in history.

It's best if he can get through it, and if he can't......

Zhu Gaoxu was silent, not knowing how to comfort Guo Yan.

"Master, the meal has arrived."

There was a knock on the door, and Yisha opened the door of the private room, and opened it carefully.

"Pass it in." Zhu Gaoxu signaled, and Yizha also walked in with a few nervous guys.

Each of them carried a plate of food and carefully put it down.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu stopped a small guy who was leaving: "You stay, I have something to ask you, but I don't delay you, there is a reward." ”

"It's... It's ......"

The thirteen or fourteen-year-old servant stood nervously in place, while the other servant controlled the weight of his steps and left the private room nervously.

They didn't know Zhu Gaoxu's identity, but it could be seen from the fabric on his body that this was someone they couldn't afford to provoke in the restaurant.

When Yisha closed the door, he walked back to Zhu Gaoxu's side, and Zhu Gaoxu also asked the little guy, "Where are you from?" ”

"Back to ...... Back to the master, the younger one is from Jiangpu, and there is a road opened by the yamen, and the ...... who come to the capital to work"

The little guy was very nervous, and Zhu Gaoxu smiled when he saw this: "You sit down first, I have something to ask you." ”

The more polite Zhu Gaoxu was, the more nervous the little guy became, because he was worried that the old man in front of him was as good as Long Yang.

"I left you mainly to ask you, how was your life after coming to the capital, and did you have any fellow villagers who came to the capital with you?"

"There are six." The little guy explained nervously, and at the same time couldn't help but glance at Guo Yan who was sitting opposite him.

He swore that he had never seen such a good-looking woman in his life, and even Qin Huaihe, who he often went to deliver goods, could not compare.

"Don't look at what you shouldn't." Yishaha's tone was not good, and the little guy nodded tremblingly.

"Haha!" Zhu Gaoxu was not angry, but said with a smile: "Everyone has a love for beauty, and it is not strange to look at beautiful women." ”

He smiled and revealed, and then asked the little guy, "When did you come to the capital?" ”

"In the second year of Yongle, I came after the imperial court relaxed the road." Xiaowu replied, and the policy of relaxing the road guide in his mouth was also one of the new policies promulgated by Zhu Gaoxu at that time.

"How is life in the capital, and do you think there have been any changes in the capital in the past few years?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked with a smile, and the little guy swallowed his saliva when he heard this, and after thinking about it carefully, he said:

"There are more people in Qinhuaihe, and there are more people wearing silk on the street, and now there are not many people wearing white cloth in the inner city, and most of the people who wear white cloth are helpers, or they enter the inner city from the outer city to work."

"In addition, the price of vegetables in restaurants has also risen, and the price of vegetables and meat in the market has risen and fallen."

"Our wages have gone up, but not much."

"The capital is also cleaner, much cleaner than when I first came, and the shops on the street have thrown their garbage into the garbage trucks of the imperial court, and occasionally someone throws something, and it will be cleaned."

The little guy said that the changes in Nanjing City in his eyes all showed the prosperity of Nanjing City in the past three years.

The so-called garbage truck is one of Zhu Gaoxu's new policies.

There are 600 horses in Beijing, and there are garbage trucks parked in the inner and outer cities, and every day someone will drive the garbage trucks to park the clean garbage trucks in their places, and then pull away the garbage trucks that were put away yesterday.

All the garbage will be transported to the Yangtze River and dumped, because the garbage is mostly stones, sediment, kitchen waste and other garbage, so there is no fear of pollution after being dumped into the Yangtze River.

In addition, an underground drainage system has been built in the city, and each alley has a wellhead for taking out garbage.

After the garbage is emptied, when the drums sound at dusk, the bundle gate at the outfall will be opened, and the water of the Qinhuai River will pour into the sewer, washing the garbage into the Yangtze River.

Since the wellhead is not large, there is no need to worry about someone throwing large materials into the sewer, causing congestion in the sewer.

The whole underground drainage system is more difficult, mainly because it is connected in series, especially to separate the small rivers in the city, so that all the garbage can be washed into the Yangtze River.

For this reason, Zhu Gaoxu deliberately asked people to directly block the inlets in various places in the city with sandbags, and let them be exposed to the sun for a month before digging and building.

The project lasted for two years, using a lot of masonry and cement, and was criticized by the people and officials.

But it turned out that when the project was announced, the officials and people who had criticized the imperial court began to enjoy these conveniences.

"Are prices going up too much?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not become complacent because of a trivial matter, but asked about the life of the little girl.

"It hasn't risen much, all kinds of meat have risen by one penny, vegetables have risen by one penny per 100 catties, but cloth has not risen."

"Also, the cost of shops and accommodation has gone up, and many people want to buy a house in the inner city."

The little guy said something he knew, and when Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he signaled to give him a reward.

Yizha took out a small amount of money from his arms, which was enough for hundreds of dollars.

Originally, the little guy thought that Yishiha would take out a few pieces and give it to him, but he didn't want Yishiha to throw it directly into his arms: "This is the reward given to you by the head of the family." ”

"Thank you, master! Thank you, owner! Seeing that he had won such a big bargain, the little guy was not nervous, and he knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Gaoxu excitedly.

"Go out and work hard, and strive to return home as soon as possible."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and waved his hand, and the little guy got up when he saw this, bowed and thanked him, and then withdrew from the private room.

After he left, Guo Yancai, who had not spoken, said: "No matter where Your Highness goes, government affairs are still the first priority. ”

She is not yin and yang, but full of admiration for her husband.

"What if it weren't?" Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "If I want to sit in this position, I have to be worthy of this responsibility." ”

"If I'm old and tired and don't want to do it, then I can retreat."

Zhu Gaoxu's retirement theory surprised Guo Yan, a woman who has shared a bed with him for so many years, but she didn't think that Zhu Gaochu would retreat.

"You don't believe me?" Zhu Gaoxu saw Guo Yan's disbelief, and without waiting for her to answer, he poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip of the so-called tea, shook his head and said:

"It's really tiring to deal with government affairs, and I don't have the energy of my grandfather."

"When I feel like I can't do it anymore, then I'll retire and rest."

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu was fortunate to have a Zhao Jiumei before his father and son.

Although Zhao Jiumei said that he couldn't control Qin Hui, at least he was more honest after giving Zhao Yan the Zen position, and Zhao Yan didn't do anything excessive to Zhao Gou, and he was very filial.

With this pair of adoptive father and son in front, Zhu Di will dare to say the words of Zen, and the same is true for Zhu Gaoxu.

Of course, the relationship between Song Xiaozong Zhao Yan and his son Song Guangzong Zhao Tang is very awkward, but the embarrassment of their father and son is mainly because there is a strong and vicious Li family in the middle, otherwise it would not be so stiff.

In comparison, Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan are filial and sensible, and Zhu Di dares to say that the Zen position is also under such a premise.

If Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan were like Song Guangzong, Zhao Dian and Li, then Zhu Di would probably find a way to take back power.

"I have to take it well, I can't be like that Zhao Dan, otherwise when I get old, I probably won't dare to give it to him."

Thinking of Song Guangzong's Zhao Dian and the Li family, Zhu Gaoxu sighed a few times, and seemed to feel sorry for what happened to Song Xiaozong.

"The concubine is going to choose a good wife for the concubine." Guo Yan was also amused by Zhu Gaoxu, and seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, he followed along.

"Let's eat, when I go back to the palace after eating, I guess I'm already crying."

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head with a wry smile, picked up the chopsticks and picked up the dishes for Guo Yan.

This kind of restaurant food, the two of them are still often eaten before they get married and go north, and they haven't tried it for nearly ten years.

After a full meal, the two went downstairs to the carriage and returned to the Forbidden City under the escort of more than 20 guards.

After returning to the East Palace, Guo Yan went straight to the front dormitory, because she had already heard Zhu Zhanyan's cry.

Listening to the cry, Zhu Gaoxu, as a father, also sighed: "This kid has a lot of tears, I hope he won't be a crybaby like the boss." ”

Speaking of the boss Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaochu was stunned for a moment, turned his head to Yishiha and asked, "Where is my eldest brother?" ”

After the Lantern Festival, the kings took up the vassal one after another, and Zhu Gaochi, as the king of Han, was naturally one of them.

Before he left, the duplicitous Zhu Di still asked people to send him 20,000 copper coins, in case he went to Yunnan and had a bad time.

In fact, Zhu Di was ready to give Zhuang Tian, but Zhu Gaoxu did not agree with giving Zhuang Tian, so he could only give up.

"The news three days ago was that I arrived in Wuchang, and after meeting with the King of Chu, I went south to Changsha to meet the King of Zhao."

Yisha said, but at the same time reminded: "Your Highness, isn't it good to allow the kings to meet in private like this?" ”

"It's okay, they can't leave the fiefdom casually after they arrive at the fiefdom, and it's okay to catch up on the old days on the feudal road."

Zhu Gaoxu sat back in his place and said disapprerovingly.

In fact, he hoped that the feudal clans would do something after they met, so that he would have a reason to cut the feudal domains.

"By the way, I heard that King Qin and King Jin were cleaned up by my father?"

Zhu Gaoxu inquired about Yizha, and Yizha was also embarrassed when he heard this: "Your Majesty sent officials to Xi'an, but Qin Wang Bing said that he was not sick, and then His Majesty sent someone to take down all the subordinate officials of his palace and flow to Hechengwei in Daning." ”

"After this battle, King Bing of Qin has become much more honest."

"As for the Jin Wangxi......" Yishu paused, and Zhu Gaoxu looked up and asked when he saw him hesitating: "What's wrong?" ”

Zhu Jixi and Zhu Gaoxu remember clearly, if he hadn't asked Fu Rang's sister to write a letter to Fu Youde, Fu Youde would not have been so targeted by his grandfather.

"His younger brother, Zhu Jixi, the king of Pingyang, continued to go up and down, saying that the king of Jin was often dissatisfied with His Majesty, so His Majesty was very unhappy."

After saying it carefully, Zhu Gaoxu's heart is the same as in history.

In history, Zhu Jixi was definitely unhappy about Zhu Di's ascension to the throne, but he was not stupid enough to speak ill of Zhu Di in the palace.

Zhu Jixi just wanted to frame him so as to get the throne of King Jin.

It's a pity that even if he framed Zhu Jixi and got the throne, he was finally removed from the title and demoted to a concubine because he tried to poison his mother and colluded with Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han.

In Zhu Gaoxu's own impression, he doesn't seem to have anything to do with Zhu Jixi, and he thinks it's because of his arrival that there is a deviation.

"Zhu Jixi is not stupid, he won't do that kind of thing, Zhu Jixi I know, he is arrogant and jealous, and it is estimated that the content of the sparse is framed."

"In this way, you send someone to replace the head of the Jin Palace, and let him judge whether what Zhu Jixi said is true or false."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Jixi still have a little friendship, for the sake of Lao Zhu and Fu Youde's daughter's face, it's nothing to help him.

Seeing that His Royal Highness was intervening, he nodded and agreed, and then arranged for someone to solve the matter.

However, when they were all busy because of this, Nanyang seemed very chaotic at the moment......

"Boom, boom—"

When the fierce cannon roared over the sea, hundreds of granite shells rained down on a ship of five or six hundred materials.

In just an instant, the lucky ship began to sink into the water under such a covering blow, and the sailors on board were killed and wounded countless times.

"Quick, lean in, don't let it sink!!"

On the deck, Yang Zhan looked at the sinking ship with great interest, and commanded the fleet to move closer to it.

After a while, several horseboats surrounded it and threw dozens of hooks to hook the sinking fortune ship.

On the sea, many fluttering sailors looked desperately at the tall horses and boats around them.

"Pull one person up for questioning, and the other people will scoop up the cargo on the ship for me."

Yang Zhan laughed loudly, and the sailors also waved the flags, so that the horse boats began to be captured.

After a quarter of an hour, when a middle-aged man who was soaked and dressed as a Confucian was escorted to the Western Fleet to take a ship, he immediately knelt down and hung his head.

Yang Zhan sat back in his place, with Cui Jun and Zheng He sitting next to him.

"Which merchant gang are you, I don't know if you can't go to sea trade now, even if you want to go, you have to stop the ship for inspection and pay taxes?"

Between Yang Zhan and Cui Jun, Zheng He was still kind to speak, while the captured man said:

"Hui Yu, my lord, we are all overseas Chinese in Nanyang, we have been doing business in Nanyang for many years, I really don't know these things, please let us go in the face of the lord of the country, and return our goods......"

"Fuck you!" Hearing this, many generals around them were scolding, but Yang Zhan raised his hand to stop the farce around him before he spoke: "Who is the head of your family?" ”

"The lord of the Bolin State can't be said in name." The head hesitated, but Cui Jun sneered: "Chen Zuyi, right? ”

"You ......" the boss's eyes widened, but Cui Jun scolded; A pirate would dare to claim to be the lord of the country. ”

"Look at the fleet behind me, how is it compared to your lord?"

Cui Jun said a few words, so that the person in charge was speechless.

Needless to say, Chen Zuyi's strength is also among the best maritime forces in the world, but that was before he ran into the Western Fleet.

Judging from the artillery bombardment of the Ming army just now, not to mention a 500-material ship, even ten ships can't survive a round of shelling.

In the face of the Lower Western Fleet, which has absolute power, the leaders who used to have a tough attitude towards the countries of the South Seas seem so weak and powerless at this moment.

"Give him a two-hundred-grain sand boat." Yang Zhan spoke, and said to the person in charge: "The court has made a decree, Chen Zuyi will either accept the appeasement or be exterminated on the spot, you bring this to him." ”

"It's... It's ......" The head of the department turned pale, and he really didn't expect the imperial court to issue such a harsh will.

Judging from the strength displayed by the Western Fleet today, if the two sides really fight, then their side may not have the slightest chance of winning.

"Get out!"

Cui Jun scolded, and the head of the charge could only take the 200 sand boat to rescue his sailors, and then fled with them in embarrassment from the northern waters of the Malay Peninsula.

Seeing them leaving, Zheng He said, "The prince didn't say that he wanted to be appeased?" ”

Faced with the problem, Yang Zhan touched the mustache that he didn't know when he raised it: "Try it, if you can appease it, then more than 10,000 people under his command will be useful to us." ”

"That's right." Zheng He nodded and approved of this passage.

Since Layue, they have traveled all the way south after leaving the Champa Kingdom, passing through three countries such as Chenla, Siam, and Manraka.

None of these countries dared to think crookedly in the face of the Western Fleet, because they all knew the news of Annan's annihilation.

You must know that the father and son of the Hu clan of Annam completely suppressed the Champa before, and the Champa and Siam fought against Zhenla, it can be said that the combat power of Annam is undoubtedly above the Three Kingdoms.

If Annan was destroyed by the Ming Dynasty in half a year, then they naturally did not dare to be presumptuous, so before the Western Fleet arrived in these countries, they met the envoys sent by these countries.

The envoys of the three kingdoms were all shocked by the sheer size of the Western Fleet, and after returning to China, they boasted that the Western Fleet was in the sky and not in the ground.

Obviously, it was a combined fleet of 20,000 people composed of hundreds of treasure ships, warships, and horse ships, but when it reached the ears of the kings and ministers of the Three Kingdoms, it became a thousand warships, each one hundred zhang long and dozens of zhang wide, carrying hundreds of people and an army of 100,000 people.

This scale gives people the impression that they are not here for diplomacy, but for destroying the country.

Because of this, the kings of the three kingdoms took their ministers to the port city where the Western Fleet agreed to anchor in advance, and also saw the huge fleet that could not be seen at a glance.

Along the way to the south, Zheng and their business was also done, the Ministry of Rites also built and set up a national pavilion, and the kings of various countries accompanied Xiao to visit the main cities of various countries, and also promised to send people or personally go to the Ming Dynasty Nanjing City to pay tribute.

They didn't actually want to go, but when they looked at the Western Fleet in the harbor where they couldn't see the edge, they couldn't stop refusing to go back, and they could only smile and say that they were willing to go to Daming, but they thought that they were very likely to not come back.

Their feelings, Zheng He and they have no way of knowing, they are only immersed in the pride of being polite and courteous in our heavenly empire, and the fleet is crossing the sea.

It was because of their pride that they welcomed any ship that refused to cooperate with them along the way.

Among them, the one who suffered the most shelling was undoubtedly Chen Zuyi of the One Piece of the South Seas at this moment.

"Chen Zuyi is in Sumatra, and at this rate, we should be able to arrive in three days."

Cui Jun said the general situation, at this time they had just sailed from Manchuria, and it was not far from Sumatra.

"Bairi Missoula has already given us Manraka (Riau Islands), and now he can give Palembang to us in his personal name as long as we take Palembang."

Zheng He, who acted as a diplomat on the fleet, took out a map, pointed to the location of Palembang and said: "At present, Palembang is occupied by the overseas Chinese Liang Daoming, who claims to be the king of Sriwijaya, and his attitude towards the imperial court is not clear. ”

Zheng He mentions Liang Daoming, who is now the king of Palembang, the old port area painted by Zhu Gaoxu.

After the destruction of Srivijaya by the Majapahit in the 30th year of Hongwu, the Chinese and Malays in the Palembang area did not submit to the rule of the Javanese and raised troops to prepare to recover their homeland.

In the face of the Chinese resistance, Majapahit chose to directly send troops to suppress it.

When the incident broke out, the Malay prince Bairi Missoula led his people to flee first to the island of Singapore, and then to the Malay Peninsula to establish the state of Manraka.

After Bairi Missoula fled, Palembang fell into chaos, and more than 1,000 local Chinese supported Liang Daoming, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, as their leader.

Under the command of Liang Daoming, the local Chinese and local Malays began to defend themselves against the invasion of the Majapahit, and Liang Daoming established a regime known as the Srivijaya Dynasty.

Because of his status as a Cantonese, people from Nanyang and Guangdong crossed the sea to join him from all over the country.

Now Bairi Missoula has agreed to hand over Palembang to the Ming, which means that the Ming has the qualifications to take over the local area.

As long as Liang Daoming honestly accepts Zhao'an, then one of the four missions of the Western Fleet going south this time will be completed.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhan looked at Cui Jun: "When did Zhao'an's ship depart?" ”

"Yesterday afternoon, I should have arrived in the Manraka Islands, and I will arrive in Palembang in two days at most."

After Cui Jun answered, Yang Zhan also looked at Zheng He: "Recruit Liang Daoming first, and then deal with Chen Zuyi." ”

"Good!" Zheng He nodded and did not raise any objections.

Soon, the huge Lower Western Fleet began to move in the direction of the old port, riding the wind and waves......

(End of chapter)