"The Minister and Soldier Section gives Wang Ji in the matter, see Your Highness, Your Highness Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose ......"

At the beginning of May, when the singing salute sounded in the Chunhe Palace, a tall and strong civil official wearing the regular uniform of a seventh-rank official was saluting Zhu Gaoxu.

His body is nearly six feet long, and his official robe is bulging on his body, not like the figure that Wenchen should have, but like a military general.

"I heard that when you took the imperial examination, you were the first in riding and archery?"

Looking at Wang Ji, who looked resolute, Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting on the main seat, became interested, got up and walked forward, and looked at Wang Ji with great interest.

As the first person to take charge of the army as a civilian official after the Hongwu Dynasty and obtain the title of knight for military merits, Wang Ji's experience can definitely be described as a general.

In terms of military affairs, in the face of the repeated invasions of Ganliang by Adai Khan and Duoer Zhibo of the Tatar Department, he dared to lead less than 3,000 light cavalry to raid the Tatar Atai Khan for the first time, resulting in the almost complete annihilation of the soldiers and horses of the Atai Khan, and the capture of more than 50 people, including the Privy Council, Tongzhi, Baiyuan, Wanhu, Youcheng, and Daru Huachi.

After that, he went south to Luchuan, led the Ming army to cross the Irrawaddy River, and set up a stone tablet on the Irrawaddy River that "the stone is rotten and the river is dry, and Ernai has to be crossed", and summoned the Tusi and the king of eastern India and Burma, Siam and other places, so that the tribes were terrified, leaving a sentence "Since ancient times, the Han people have not crossed the Jinsha River, and now the king is here, and the real heaven is mighty".

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu can know Wang Ji so well is because when he traveled in western Yunnan in his previous life, he went to the local temple to worship him.

After the Battle of Luchuan, Wang Ji was considered the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang by the ethnic minorities in western Yunnan, and was highly worshiped among the Lisu and Jingpo peoples, and was gradually deified, and was worshiped as the greatest protector god in the western region and Yunnan-Burma.

In the area east of Talok in Myanmar, as long as it was the place where Wang Ji had stationed troops in those years, there were three chong temples built to worship the three chong gods Wang Ji.

Part of the Bai nationality in Dali area also worships Wang Ji as the local master, is the god of economic rejuvenation, and is named "the emperor of the three chong founding of the country", and holds the Christmas temple fair of the three chong lord Wang Ji on the tenth day of the seventh lunar month every year, and the locals go to the three chong temple to celebrate Wang Ji's birthday.

However, one of the more embarrassing points is that Wang Ji was recalled, did not return to Yunnan for a long time, and after the news of the new emperor's snub in Nanjing, it was actually falsely rumored that Wang Ji was recalled by the new emperor, and the traitorous ministers poisoned Wang Ji at the banquet for Wang Ji on the eighth day of February.

The Lisu people believe that after Wang Ji's death, the ghost went to heaven and became a white horse general, so the ceremony of "going down to the sea of fire and sword mountain" is held in the eighth knife pole festival in the first month of February every year, vowing to pay tribute to Wang Ji with the heroic spirit of "dare to go up the knife mountain and dare to break through the sea of fire", expressing the determination to resist foreign aggression and defend the country.

If this rumor is inferred according to history, then in their eyes, it is estimated that the traitor who poisoned Wang Ji is probably Yu Qian......

Thinking of this, a touch of embarrassment appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's face.

He naturally didn't think that Yu Qian was a traitor, but after Zhu Qiyu took the throne, the group of people under Yu Qian's command who relied on him did some things that were unacceptable.

Mao Zhong almost sentenced his whole family, Chen Mao, the old general of Jingnan, died depressed, Wang Ji sat on the bench for three years was not enough, and was suddenly ordered to be dismissed and go home, and he also had to enter the court regularly to show that he had no objection.

In the end, Wang Ji had to eat meat on a prancing horse, and he was enthusiastic about the behavior of the prostitute.

However, Zhu Qiyu and Yu Qian will do this, and Zhu Gaoxu can understand.

After all, judging from the later situation, Wang Ji's prestige is indeed higher than that of Zhu Qiyu and Yu Qian.

In the change of seizing the door, except for Fan Guang, the rest of the generals in the ten regiments and battalions trained by Yu Qian personally saw Wang Ji in armor and stood on Wang Ji's side.

It can be said that except for Zhu Qizhen, who personally knighted Wang Ji, unless he meets a hero like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, other mediocre kings really dare not use this kind of character who can be used to cover the lord and enter the picture.

But it just so happened that Zhu Gaoxu thought he was the hero.

"How many pounds of bow can you shoot, and how far can you shoot?"

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and pinched Wang Ji's tendon and flesh hidden under his robe, and nodded with satisfaction while asking.

"You can open a 100-pound bow, and hit the bull's-eye within 50 steps." Wang Ji was a little apprehensive, and he couldn't help but be a little worried about Zhu Gaoxu's start, and his Royal Highness had the good of Longyang.

"Good!" Hearing Wang Ji's words, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and nodded: "This martial art, even if it is placed among the generals, is very remarkable. ”

"Since you have this martial arts and are from Baoding, why don't you choose to join the army early?"

"During the Jing Dynasty, the minister's parents died one after another, and he was able to participate in the imperial examination after six years of filial piety." Wang Ji thought that Zhu Gaoxu was asking him about the martyrdom, so he answered truthfully.

"Your Majesty has now led his troops north to Baicheng (Wuliang Ha Bald City), and will soon arrive at Hechengwei to start this northern expedition, what do you think?"

Zhu Gaoxu had the idea of taking the school examination, although Wang Ji was two years older than him, whether he was leading troops to fight or dealing with government affairs, he was Wang Ji's 'senior'.

"The minister thought that His Majesty would definitely return home with a great victory in sending troops this time, but since then, it will be difficult for the imperial court to find a decisive opportunity with the Tatar army......"

Wang Ji is nearly 30 years old, although he has never been on the battlefield, but his Baoding Mansion is also a place with many military households, since he was a child, he has heard the story of fighting with the Mongols from the military household registration, and thus understands the habits of the Mongols in battle.

From the Zhizheng period to the present, the Mongols have long been shadowed by the Han people of the Ming Dynasty, unless there can be a figure similar to Wang Baobao to lead them to create a great victory, otherwise they and the Ming army are always cowardly before fighting, and they have not yet fought to lose fear.

Wang Ji as a military department, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he can read many files of soldiers and horses, because of this, he also knows very well the generals in the early Ming Dynasty and even today's Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others The style and means of using troops.

In Wang Ji's view, unless the Mongols abandoned their women, children and herds, it would be difficult for them to escape from Zhu Di's pursuit.

Zhu Di's familiarity with the grassland is no worse than theirs.

Zhu Di could take half a month's military ration and tens of thousands of cavalry to attack the desert, but the Mongols couldn't.

Zhu Di couldn't find anyone to go home, but they left the herd and fled, and when they came back, the herd had already been taken away by Zhu Di.

Without herds, a single white plague is enough to destroy a tribe.

This time, the Tatar troops were not prepared enough, so they would definitely not be able to escape Zhu Di's pursuit.

What Wang Ji cares about is how many casualties the Ming army can inflict on the Tatars in this battle, and whether the Warat Department will come to reap the benefits of the fishermen and encroach on the land achievements of the Ming Dynasty after the Tatars suffer heavy losses.

"You're right."

Zhu Gaoxu affirmed Wang Ji's point of view, and asked at the same time: "I heard that you went to the salt pond in Shanxi a few days ago, and asked the court to exempt the local arrears of 200,000 stone tax grain?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, the minister did ask for a waiver of taxes in the salt pool." Wang Ji directly admitted and added:

"Not to mention the hardships of the local Yanchi people, they also have to bear heavy forced labor, and they are already miserable."

"Although the imperial court has repeatedly lowered the tax quota in Shanxi, the situation in Shanxi is still not optimistic, and some people are even unclothed......

Zhu Gaoxu naturally knew that the people of Shanxi had a heavy burden, otherwise he would not have repeatedly lowered the quota in Shanxi.

It's just that he really hasn't been to Shanxi in person, and just from the point of view of the song, he really can't see anything valuable.

Now Wang Ji dares to tell him truthfully, which makes Zhu Gaoxu very happy.

"Give him a seat, I want to learn about things in Shanxi."

He turned around and instructed Yisha, and Wang Ji hurriedly returned the salute to express his gratitude.

After he took his seat, Zhu Gaoxu also returned to his place and sat down, and asked him: "As far as what you have seen and heard, what else is the hardship of the people of Shanxi besides forced labor and land endowment?" ”

"Naturally, it is a harsh tax." Wang Ji didn't think about it, and said:

"When the minister passed through Shandong, he saw that the people of Shandong had sufficient food and clothing, and there were many smiling faces on their faces, and the same was true for Henan and Beiping."

"It's just that when you enter Shanxi, the suffering of the people of Shanxi is enough to make the good people cry."

"The imperial court opened mines in Shanxi to dig coal, which was a good thing for the local people, but the local yamen launched a forced labor to let the people go to the mountains to dig coal, and some yamen even stipulated that each household needed to dig 1,000 catties of coal every year."

"The people's homes are not close to the coal yard, and in order to dig coal, some 11 or 2-year-old young people have to get up at dawn and walk more than 10 miles to the coal yard to dig coal."

"In such a day, it is only a hundred catties of coal, and it will be deliberately difficult by the coal yard, deliberately light weight."

"The coal yard alone is enough to delay the people for half a month every year, not to mention the rest."

"Although the imperial court stipulated that the annual conscription should not exceed 20 days, the officials in Shanxi Province extended the construction period because the construction period was not successful, and the actual conscription may be as long as two months."

"Your Royal Highness......" Wang Ji said, his voice was a little sad: "The people of Shanxi have been working hard for a long time!" ”

"......" After listening to everything Wang Ji said, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't calm down for a long time.

He thought that his repeated exemption from Shanxi's quota had reduced the burden on the people of Shanxi, but in fact he still underestimated the exploitation of the people by officials.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Yisha: "I sent hundreds of officials to Shanxi, but none of them told me these things. ”

"If it weren't for Wang Ji now, I don't know how long I would have been hidden."

"Your Highness......" Yizha didn't know what to say.

Seeing that he didn't know what to say, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Wang Ji: "I want to promote you to investigate the affairs of Shanxi, specialize in correcting official evil, rape and violence, pacifying lawsuits and prisons, and suppressing grievances, so as to revitalize Shanxi's demeanor and clarify the rule of officials." ”

"Thank Your Highness for Your Grace ......" Hearing that he had been promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank at once, and that he could still move around in Shanxi, how could Wang Ji refuse?

He took over this errand that seemed to offend others, and Zhu Gaoxu also comforted him when he saw this:

"If you can make Shanxi officials abide by the law, you can choose the high-ranking officials of Shanxi's political envoy department and the inspection envoy department!"

Zhu Gaoxu said that the only high-ranking officials in his mouth were political envoys and envoys.

In other words, he is ready to let Wang Ji rectify Shanxi, which can be regarded as supporting him.

"Minister, I will live up to His Highness's intentions!"

Wang Ji bowed and saluted, and Zhu Gaoxu also waved his hand when he saw this: "Allow you to take a three-day vacation, and send you twelve East Palace guards, and the expenses will be paid by the East Palace." ”

"You have a good rest for the past three days, and when you go to Shanxi, you won't have time to rest."

"The minister retired ......" Wang Ji knew it, so he withdrew from the Chunhe Palace.

After he left, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishuha and said dissatisfiedly: "Why didn't the people I sent to Shanxi, as well as the people from Xichang, play these things?" ”

"Do you think this kind of thing related to the suffering of the people is not important, or do they take advantage of the local officials and don't want to report it?"

"You and Hu Lun will find out this matter for me, and give me an answer in a month."

"Yes......" Yizha knew that it was useless to explain it now, and his Royal Highness only looked at the evidence, so he didn't quibble, but should do this thing.

"Second brother!"

Not long after Wang Ji left, a familiar voice sounded in the Chunhe Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu looked, but Zhu Gaosui recklessly broke into the hall, and walked over after looking for himself.

"You don't go to the Qianqing Palace to accompany your mother, what are you doing here?"

Zhu Gaoxu sorted out the notes in his hand and asked Zhu Gaosui, who had been bored of seeing him during this time.

"Mother's place is too boring, I'll come to you to catch up."

Seeing that Zhu Gaochu was unhappy, Zhu Gaosui immediately restrained a little, and took the chair from Yisha's hand and sat down.

However, he sat for a while, and then set his eyes on the "General Map of the Four Yi Binfu in the World".

He took a closer look, and was very curious about the old port, Luzon, Annam and other places, and even pointed to Taiwan, which was filled in with colors, but did not have any guards or yamen, and said:

"Why did this little Liuqiu change its name to Taiwan, and there is no guard on it, why don't you send a guard post?"

He was very curious, and Zhu Gaoxu could only sigh when he heard this: "There is a lot of malaria above, and I am not going to step into it until Zheng He returns from the Western Ocean for the third time." ”

"In addition, it is also more difficult to cross the strait from Fujian to the local area, and the only way suitable for the imperial court is to go south from the mouth of the Yangtze River."

"For now, it is enough for the imperial court to master Penghu."

Zhu Gaoxu said, and saw Zhu Gaosui looking at the old port on the map and said, "Zheng He, haven't they left the old port yet?" It's been a few months......"

"If he doesn't run the old port well, how can he go to the West?" Looking at Zhu Gaosui, who was only a little smart, Zhu Gaoxu sighed and got up, pointed at the old port with a command stick, and slid all the way along the coastline to Kunlun Point (Cape of Good Hope).

Zhu Gaoxu gave Zheng He a heavy task, and he hoped to build all the officialdoms during the second voyage to the West, such as Sumatra, Dagura, Punggara (Bangladesh), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Guli, Kurumus, Rasa, Adan, Tianfang, Mugudushu, Slow Basa, and Tieba Kingdom.

Some of these were states, some were city-states, all the way from the coast of Malacca to the northeastern coast of what was later South Africa.

After arriving at Kunlunjiao, Zheng He would set up a Kunlun Propaganda Division in the local area, and reclaimed farmland to build towns and returns.

Before Zheng He's third voyage to the West, this consolation division would buy grain from the country that could be stored for a long time and wait for Zheng He's arrival, and serve as a supply point for Zheng He to go to Central and South America.

As long as he could communicate with the Inca Empire and the Aztecs, and establish a certain friendship, Zheng He would be able to leave a team of soldiers and horses behind and find all kinds of crops and plants needed by the court with the help of the locals.

The establishment of friendship this time also made it convenient for the Ming Dynasty to travel to the western part of the Americas in the future, saving the trouble of supply.

As long as the prices of various trade commodities are negotiated, the fleet does not need to carry heavy grain, and can carry the goods from the Ming Ocean to the west coast of Central America, and then exchange the goods on the ship with the locals for food.

If Zhu is not mistaken, the number of bison in North America is hundreds or even tens of millions.

If it weren't for the indiscriminate hunting and killing of white people, this herd of bison would have been enough for the local natives to eat normally for hundreds of thousands of years.

When he thought of the group of guys in Europe, Zhu Gaoxu was angry.

Daming's current situation is that it is impossible to colonize the Americas, and Zhu Gaoxu does not intend to colonize the Americas.

Compared with the Americas, he cares more about Indochina and the South Seas.

As for the Americas, the Ming Dynasty could exchange commodities for gold, silver and other resources, and could rest assured that they would support the Aztecs and Mayans in the Americas.

The conflict between the Americas and the Ming Dynasty is not destined to be very large, and in comparison, the conflict between the Americas and Europe is curious.

Zhu Gaoxu was very curious, if the Ming Dynasty brought horses, armor, crossbow arrows and other things to the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire, what would happen to the Europeans when they landed in this new continent?

Thinking of this, he looked at the direction of the Americas with great interest, and Zhu Gaosui saw him looking at the direction of the Americas on the map, and couldn't help asking: "Is there anyone on the North Continent and the East Continent?" ”

"Naturally." When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he immediately walked to the bookshelf and found a book from the shelf.

The book looks very quaint, and after Zhu Gaoxu opened it, a paragraph appeared on it.

[Those in the Northern Wilderness, 36,000 miles away from China, need to cross the big river, cross the ice and sea......]

"This book should be a book from the pre-Qin period, in which China is explained by the Book of Songs as the Jingshi where the Son of Heaven lived, that is, from Luoyi, where the Son of Zhou lived to Beizhou, it took 36,000 miles to travel."

"The length of one mile in the pre-Qin period is different from the one mile we have now, and it is almost twenty-five or six thousand miles when converted, but it is far enough away."

"The sea of ice mentioned in the book should be here......"

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the Bering Strait knowingly: "This is the sea of ice, it is rumored that when the world is cold, it will freeze, and people can walk across the sea." ”

"In another book, it was said how people from Beizhou and Nanzhou got to the local area."

Zhu Gaoxu said, put down the book again, and found another book that looked very quaint.

He opened it and pointed out that sentence to Zhu Gaosui, which probably meant that during the Suiren period, due to the great cold in the world, some tribes in northern China crossed the ice sea, and after arriving in Beizhou, because it was still cold, they continued to migrate southward until they came to a warm place before they began to settle down.

In the book, a total of three groups of tribes in the Central Plains entered Beizhou successively, and settled in Nanzhou, Beizhou, central Nanzhou, and Beizhou one after another.

"Is this book also from the pre-Qin?"

Zhu Gaosui looked at the quaint book, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded without blushing or heartbeat: "It should be from the pre-Qin period, I found it when I was rummaging in the ancient and modern classics library." ”

"Many earlier editions were found, but they were all moth-eaten because they were not kept properly."

"I plan to wait for my father's northern expedition to come back, preside over the compilation of an encyclopedia, print these books in the new encyclopedia, and set up a library in the province of the two capitals and the fourteen provinces, so that people everywhere can read them."

"In addition, I am also going to collect some historical materials from the Suiren clan to the present day and compile them into a "Compendium of Chinese History".

Zhu Gaoxu said his thoughts, but Zhu Gaosui was not interested, his focus was on Zhu Di's northern expedition.

"The eldest brother wrote to me a few days ago, saying that the second brother sometimes persuades your father, don't let your father go north, and let him accompany his mother more, and cultivate well, after all, he is also forty-eight years old."

Zhu Gaosui said what the boss asked him to pass on on his behalf, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't feel good after hearing it.

What do you mean by "also forty-eight", I'm afraid you don't know that this old man almost boiled our three brothers to death......

Thinking that the youngest child only lived seven years longer than Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu really didn't think there was anything to persuade.

has his own share in this life, and Zhu Gaoxu is worried that Zhu Di will be able to boil the three brothers away.

"Dad's body is stronger than the boss and yours, you should worry about him, you might as well worry about your ......"

Zhu Gaosui glanced at Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Gaosui thought he was angry, and quickly shut up and began to look at the map.

Looking at his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu knew that he probably had something to ask for himself, so he said calmly:

"You have nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, you came before, and every time you let me reward you with something, I'm afraid today is not just a reminiscence, right?"

"Hehe...... Zhu Gaosui pretended to smile shyly, and then whispered:

"Second brother, look at what you said, I just missed you before I came."

"In front of you, I am more honest than in front of my father, how dare I come and ask for something."

"It's just that you see that I'm pitiful, and I just subsidize my brother."

If Zhu Gaochi inherited Zhu Di's posture and Zhu Gaochu inherited Zhu Di's ability, then Zhu Gaosui probably inherited Zhu Di's cheekiness.

Looking at Zhu Gaosui's cheeky appearance, Zhu Gaosui sat back in his position directly: "Give you three breaths of time, and get out if you don't say anything." ”

"Tell me about it!" Hearing that Zhu Gaochu was going to drive him away, Zhu Gaosui hurriedly stepped forward to help Zhu Gaoxu pinch his shoulder, and said while pinching:

"I saw the palace people take a horse for a walk a few days ago, and they said that the horse was your red horse."

"I don't dare to think about your horse, I just want two foals born of it and a big eating horse......"

Zhu Gaosui said his intentions, you must know that even if it is a foal born of a sweaty horse and a big food horse, it is also a valuable existence, and I have to say that he really dares to ask for it.

"It's not a big problem, a few days ago, the red horse just breeded, anyway, you have to take care of your mother in the capital, and when you leave, I will let someone give you two of its foals."

Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Gaosui immediately said: "Second brother Xie! ”

"......"

"Huh! I'm going to get out of ......."

(End of chapter)