"Controlled!"

"On the fourth day of the third month of the ninth year of Yongle, the first class was given to the Jinshi and the first, the second class was given to the Jinshi and the third was given to the same Jinshi origin."

On the fourth day of March in the eighth year of Yongle, with the sound of drums and firecrackers, the trial of Yongle Xuzi Branch Hall was announced.

The tributes have already been lined up on both sides of the Danqi outside the Fengtian Palace, and the deacons have come to the Danqi Imperial Road to sing on the Danqi Imperial Road, and the tributes have also sang.

"Xiao Shizhong, the first place in the first place in the Wuzi Kedian gold list, gave the Jinshi and the first."

"The first and second place in the Wuzi Kedian test gold list, Miao Zhen, give Jinshi and the first."

"The first and third place in the Wuzi Kedian test gold list, Wang Biao, gave the Jinshi and the first."

"Xuzi ......"

As the deacons sang the names of the first three people, the second first and the third first, a total of five people, many tributes were excited and disappointed, but they could not restore the fact that the imperial examination had ended.

After the deacons finished reciting, all the jinshi bowed down and bowed four times according to the command.

When all these ceremonies are over, the deacon walks out of the left gate of Fengtianmen with the imperial list and hangs the imperial list outside the left gate of Chang'an.

After his return, the tributes were able to walk out of Chang'an Gate to watch the list, and at the same time, the officials of Ying Tianfu used umbrellas to cover the guard of honor and sent special personnel to send the new champion to return to the first.

At the same time, the civil and military officials in the Fengtian Temple entered the class in turn, and the officials of the Honglu Temple knelt down in His Majesty Dan to give a speech: "Tiankai Wenyun, virtuous and handsome, congratulations!" ”

"Crackling—"

When the speech ended, the firecrackers sounded, and Zhu Di, who was sitting on the top of the throne, slowly got up, the hundred officials retreated, and the ceremony of the trial of the Xuzi Branch Hall was also over.

In the whole process, as always, there was no figure of Zhu Gaoxu in the East Palace, but after the process was over, the five Jinshi at the Emperor's List outside the Chang'an Gate returned to the Donghua Gate under the guidance of a carriage, and were taken into the East Palace on foot.

"Zhang Xing, Xuzike second and ninth, from Shenyang, Liaodong."

"Wu Ke, the fourteenth in the second class of the Xuzi family, a native of Haizhou, Liaodong."

"Liu Guan, the third and fifth place in the Xuzi Branch, is from Dengzhou, Shandong."

"Wang Qian, the third and seventh place in the Xuzi Branch, is from Qingzhou, Shandong."

"Fu Kuan, the thirteenth place in the third class of the Xuzi family, a native of Qujing, Yunnan."

After the five jinshi entered the palace, they successively reported to their homes, among which Fu Kuan, a native of Qujing, Yunnan, was undoubtedly very eye-catching, and the remaining four jinshi all glanced at him vaguely.

However, there are no stupid people here, and with his surname and place of origin, it is not difficult for everyone to guess his identity.

"Give a seat."

"Thank Your Highness for your grace ......"

On the high platform, Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to give a seat, and the five jinshi hurriedly returned the salute, and only after sitting down did they see the prince of the East Palace, the lord of the gate.

Undoubtedly, everyone was shocked by Zhu Gaoxu's size, even if he was sitting, he was as tall as everyone standing, with a good appearance, thick eyebrows and long eyes, and the eight-character Hu Pingsheng was a little majestic.

"You are all my old friends, there are no less than 80,000 students who signed up for the new branch this time, but only the five of you have been killed."

"I summoned you here to discuss with you about the appointment after the imperial examination."

"At present, the imperial court lacks officials in Guizhou, Henan, Huguang, Jiaozhi, Yunnan, and Guangxi, and I don't want to force you, you take the initiative to say where you want to go."

Zhu Gaoxu said, the five jinshi were obviously overwhelmed by his straightforward words, only Fu Kuan said after a short period of panic: "The minister wants to serve in Yunnan, closer to home." ”

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu did not refuse, but looked back at Yishiha, who also bowed slightly and said: "The Tusi rebellion in Amizhou has just been put down, and it is only less than three hundred miles away from Qujing City. ”

"Change Maitreya Prefecture to a county, let's start with the county governor." Zhu Gaoxu did not let him serve as the governor of Fu Kuan's father because he was familiar with him.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the twenty-year-old Fu breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to salute in return.

He inherited the body shape of the Fu family, with a height of nearly six feet and a decent appearance that made people look comfortable.

"Sit down." Zhu Gaoxu comforted him, and then asked the rest of the people.

The other four jinshi looked at each other before finally standing up and saying where they wanted to go.

Without exception, the four of them chose Henan, which is close to home, after all, there are many miasma and malaria in the southwest, and they are all official students, so they naturally understand the situation in the southwest, for fear that they will suffer from diseases and miss out on a good life after going to the southwest.

Regarding their choice, Zhu Gaoxu did not show disappointment or other expressions, but just nodded and thought of a place for them.

After doing all this, he dined with the five jinshi, chatted with them about the situation outside the gate, and did not let them go until dusk.

After they left, Zhu Gaoxu returned to his position and sat down, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Of the five Jinshi and one hundred and seventy-two lifters, only twelve are willing to go to the southwest, and only three are willing to go to Guizhou."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to reveal his dissatisfaction, and when he heard this, he hurriedly poured him tea to comfort him: "The students are mainly worried about their own safety, compared to Yunnan, Guizhou is almost a blank slate. ”

"However, with such a selection, officials who are willing to go to Guizhou will undoubtedly be able to do something locally."

"Maybe I can't stand it, ask me to change them." Zhu Gaoxu took a sip of tea and responded dissatisfied.

Seeing this, Yishiha didn't say much, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything when he saw Yishaha, and he didn't continue to talk.

After a while, he picked up the red pen and said at the same time: "Compared with them, the group of people in Zunyi Mansion are extraordinarily good. ”

"By the way, what's that prefect's name Xu?"

Although he has an excellent memory, as he handles more official documents every day, Zhu Gaoxu sometimes can't remember some small things.

"Xu Shuo, Shandong migrated to Jilin City." Yi Shiha reminded.

"Hmm." Zhu Gaoxu bowed: "How have you been doing lately?" ”

"In the recital of Jianyi, the situation in Zunyi Mansion is very good." Yizha introduced:

"After the spring ploughing, the man hired people to build roads, preparing to widen the road from Zunyi to Chongqing Prefecture, and at the same time selling official salt at the price of 15 wen when the road builders received their wages."

"This came and went, and it was actually supported to build a ten-mile road, and it was when the money and food allocated by His Highness did not arrive."

"The original road was only two zhang wide, and there were many bumpy places that were less than one zhang wide."

"Now the road has been widened three feet inward, and many rough spots have been blown flat."

"He took over the iron ore mines developed by the Yang family in Banzhou, and found limestone in the local area, and it seems that he is preparing to build an iron smelting yard and a cement factory."

Yishaha did not hesitate to introduce most of the things that happened in Zunyi Mansion, and Zhu Gaoxu was also surprised after hearing it: "How long has he been in office?" ”

"Less than half a month" also lost Ha's answer, which made Zhu Gaoxu interested.

"In less than half a month, so many things can be done, and if these things are done to other officials, I am afraid that it will not be effective in three months."

"If my officials in the Ming Dynasty can have this Xu Shuo's energy, then there is no need to implement the new policy, and the development of each prefecture and county can also make the imperial court prosperous."

Zhu Gaoxu leaned back in the chair, very satisfied with Xu Shuo, and at the same time raised his hand and said:

"Let Jian Yi allocate another 100,000 catties of salt to him, increase the salt production in Sichuan, and warn the salt merchants who go to Guizhou to sell salt, and the price of salt in Guizhou shall not exceed 20 Wen."

"The salt transported to Duogan and Wusizang is still used in the Kaizhong method, and the grain is transported to Duogan, and the salt is given according to the standard of five to ten stone grains according to the distance, and the grain is transported to Wusizang, and the salt is given according to the distance from two stones to five stone grains."

According to the highest salt price in Guizhou, which shall not exceed 20 wen, a salt quote is 8 guan yuan, and a stone of grain purchased from Sichuan is 380 wen.

Zhu Gaoxu carefully calculated that 15 stones of rice bought from Chengdu and transported to Santang, Daowu and other counties could reach 10 stones, 8 stones could be left when transported to Qamdo, 5 stones could be left when transported to Nagqu, 3 stones could be transported to Lhasa, and 2 stones could be transported to Shigatse.

This is the result of Mu Tu, Liu Zhao, and Li Ying recruiting local people to build roads in the past two years.

According to the previous road conditions, it would be good if the fifteen stone of grain from Chengdu could be left when it arrived in Shigatse.

"Last year, how much did you spend on military pay and food?"

Zhu Gaoxu inquired about Yizha, and when Yizha heard this, he went to the bookshelf and skillfully found a booklet from it.

"The total amount of military salaries, food, and bounty is 204,000 guan, 1,240,000 stone."

"If you also count the cost of hiring local people to build roads, it will cost a total of more than 369,000 guan and more than 2,164,000 stones of grain."

After saying that, he couldn't help but continue: "Many officials in the temple have criticized this matter a lot, thinking that there is no need to station so many soldiers and horses. ”

"What do you think?" Zhu Gaoxu asked rhetorically, but when he heard this, he said:

"The slave maid thinks that the cost is indeed very large, but last year, there were more than 56,000 horses in the land of Xifan, and only the horses of Duogan and half of Uszang."

"These more than 56,000 horses alone are worth no less than 500,000 yuan, and they can also subsidize a lot."

"If the army is reduced, I am afraid that there may not be so many horses, and many tribes will also disobey the yang and yin of the imperial court, as in the Hongwu period."

The idea of Yizha is still tacit with Zhu Gaoxu, although the expenditure of Xifan is large, but the number of horses obtained is also large.

In the vicinity of the post station where the Ming army was stationed, no tribe dared to ignore the imperial court's horse endowment policy, and each tribe handed over their horses to the local garrisons every year, and the garrisons gave tea in return.

This looks like a trade, but in fact the profit is the Ming army.

In the past three years alone, the Ming Dynasty has acquired no less than 100,000 horses from Xifan, most of which can be used as horses.

"If only you could think so." Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head, and then picked up two notes:

"This is the recital of Ahachu and Mengge Timur of Jianzhou Left Guard and Jianzhou Central Guard, as well as the recital of Zheng Jun, the commander of Whale Haiwei."

"Jianzhou Zuowei and Jianzhou Zhongwei have appeased the vast majority of the Jurchens in the Donghai Prefecture area, and they have more than 4,600 households and more than 3,700 soldiers under their command."

"However, Zheng Jun's note said that they have more than 5,000 Yiding under their command, so please be vigilant in the imperial court."

"There has been no movement on the North Korean side for several years, so I am ready to let Chen Chang lead his troops to Donghai Province to build cities in Helan, Shuangcheng, and Haiyang to actually control the place."

Zhu Gaoxu is too lazy to talk to North Korea, anyway, the law is on his side, and now it is just the right time to lead troops to control Donghai Mansion, and by the way, it is just right to take charge of Meng's brother Timur and others.

"That slave will send someone to deliver a message to Zhaozhou Hou Chen Chang now."

Seeing this, Yisha took up a pen to write down the decree of the East Palace, and then asked people to issue the decree.

Seeing that he had finished everything, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "The gold mining in Luzon is also on the right track, and I heard that more than 600 taels of gold have been produced in the past six months. ”

"It's not much, but as development intensifies, the output will increase."

"Let Jiang Gui divide his troops to open up to the north and south, don't have any worries, the food is all in charge of Jiaozhi."

Zhu Gaoxu explained one thing, and Yizha was also very patient to record everything.

While they were recording, a fleet broke through countless waves and came to a strait where merchant ships frequented.

The sea breeze is constantly blowing, and the scorching sun shines on people, making the skin feel a slight tingle.

"According to the guidance of the New Nation guide, there is the Strait of Kurumus (Strait of Hormuz) in front of you, and after entering the strait, there are four islands in the sea."

"These four islands are very suitable for us to set up officialdom on them."

On the deck, Chen Xuan and Zheng He beside him discussed grabbing the four islands in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Your Highness has said that there is no need to observe too many courtesies to the country of Timur, because they are rude first."

"In that case, let's take these four islands first, and then shell the city of Kurumus!"

At the critical moment, Zheng He also showed his determination, and Chen Xuan on the side immediately grinned when he heard this: "Don't worry, look at me!" ”

With that, Chen Xuan began to look back at the Strait of Kurumus.

It connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the Middle East, and is the only waterway from the Arabian Sea to the Persian Gulf.

The importance of the Strait of Kurumus cannot be overstated, even in this era without oil, but it is still important.

On the northern shore of the Strait of Kurumus is the state of Timur, which is engaged in infighting, and the most important port is the port of Kurumus.

Compared to the northern shore, Oman on the southern shore of the strait was a loose tribal force that was not considered by Zheng He.

First take the port of Kurumus and the islands in the sea, and then control the strait of Kurumus, this is what he and Chen Xuan want to do.

"Bell... Clang... Bell ......"

As the clock ticked in at 1 p.m., a bell rang in the port of Kurumus.

More than ten miles away, they got the news of the merchants at sea and saw the Ming fleet that appeared at sea level.

Kurumus sent his own diplomatic ships, and the Qianhu officer of the front army of the fleet also looked sideways at his commander: "Commander, do you want them to come?" ”

"Come here?" Chen Zuo snorted lightly: "Fire at Lao Tzu!" ”

"Yes!" Hearing the order to attack, the Ming army, which had rested for more than three months, began intensive preparations.

After the last Ming army destroyed Ceylon, Zheng He sent three warships and six horse ships to escort the princes and ministers of Ceylon to Nanjing, and left Xiyangwei and more than 600 officials to govern Ceylon, waiting for Zheng He and them to return.

Perhaps the news of the destruction of Ceylon by the Ming army spread, and so far they have encountered no obstacles all the way north.

Anandagong Germany happily carved out an area in Guli for the Ming army to build officialdom, and Bachnieman, Ra Ni, Kachi, Xinde and other countries also met the supply conditions of the Ming army.

When he drove all the way to Mukelang, which belonged to the Timurid Empire, Zheng He let go of his hands and feet, let the Ming army launch an artillery bombardment of the coastal cities of Timur, and left a letter of state in Mukelang.

The content of the letter is mainly about the fact that Timur twice detained the Ming envoy team and killed many members of the mission.

At the end, Zheng He wrote in his national letter: "I will lead the army of the Celestial Empire to Kurumus, where blood will be returned for blood!" ”

Because of this letter of state, Haril, who was now at war with Mamahei in the north, had to temporarily recruit many merchant ships to serve as war ships, and at the same time distract himself from dealing with the Ming army, and at the same time send troops to Kurumus to wait, and send envoys to prepare to negotiate with the Ming army.

However, Zheng He, who got Zhu Gaoxu's understanding, didn't know these things yet, he only knew that the Ming army's attack was about to begin!

"Woo-woo-"

In less than four moments, they began their operations with more than 300 warships and horse ships of the Western Fleet.

More than 18,000 sailors operated warships to surround the port of Kurumus, and ignored the flags of countless merchant ships on the opposite side asking for peace, and resolutely lit the lead of the artillery.

"Boom, boom—"

It was like a muffled thunderstorm, and for a time the faces of all the owners of Timur's merchant ships changed greatly.

Before they could react, thousands of stone shells smashed into hundreds of Timurid merchant ships.

"Uhh

"Dodge shelling!"

"Stone cannon!"

"At least two thousand doors!"

"Boom, boom—"

For a time, there was chaos on the deck, and thousands of shells came in, and because of their great power, they could often directly penetrate a layer of deck.

These Timurid Empire merchant ships, which were only five or six hundred materials, were crushed at the moment of the battle, and as the Ming fleet continued to approach, the casualties became more and more large.

"How many artillery pieces are there in this......"

In the port of Khurmus, the minister Ursa, who was hiding behind the shelter of the port, turned pale, and he was witnessing the destruction of the temporary fleet of the Timurid Empire.

Facing the Ming army's fleet, this fleet of 100 armed merchant ships was as fragile as a newborn baby.

The Ming fleet skillfully alternated shelling at sea, and after the shelling of one fleet ended, the fleet behind them drove forward, exposing its flanks and began shelling, repeating repeatedly.

Each round of artillery was fired, representing the shooting of thousands of stone projectiles and the penetration of several armed merchant ships.

Although they did not sink, the tattered deck was littered with countless sailors and soldiers battered by broken wooden spikes.

His wooden thorns killed them, and even worse, they were beaten into pulp on the spot by twenty pounds of stone cannonballs, and their heads were flattened.

"Beep!"

"Boom, boom—"

The wooden whistles of the Ming army sounded constantly, and each time it sounded represented a round of shelling.

The five thousand Timurid troops on the port of Khurumus turned pale, and like Ursa, they only felt their vulnerability under this fleet.

The 5,000 troops on the port of Kurumus consisted of 2,000 auxiliaries, 1,000 local cavalry, and 2,000 infantry.

They only had twelve stone cannons in their hands, and this was already the most weapon they could handle.

But in the face of the Ming army's hundreds of stone cannons, they really didn't know what the twelve stone cannons in their hands were for.

Under their watchful eyes, hundreds of armed merchant ships surrendered and sank, and in just one hour after the war began, the temporary fleet of the Timurid Empire was completely annihilated.

Next, when the army of five thousand Timur of Kurumus faced the fleet.

"Raise the white flag! Tell them we're here to negotiate......"

"Boom, boom—"

The heavy sound of artillery drowned out the voice of Foreign Minister Ursa, and after crushing Timur's temporary fleet, Chen Xuan and Zheng He did not raise any flags, but launched an artillery bombardment on the city of Kurumus.

"Retreat! Not in port! ”

The cavalry began to retreat, and the infantry and auxiliaries also retreated in a row.

In the face of such powerful firepower, even the elite directly under the Timurid Empire would be defeated, not to mention their group of local armies.

"Boom, boom—"

Fierce stone shells smashed into the city, many houses were pierced, and Timur's troops, who had fled in the streets, were also hit hard by artillery fire.

Hundreds of head-sized stone projectiles fell into the street, killing a soldier and colliding with the ground, turning into ricocheting bullets and jumping off the street.

As long as they touch it, no matter how heavy the armor they wear, the soldier will face only the path of death.

Blood stained the walls and streets, and wails and screams rang out throughout the port of Kurumus.

Ursa was evacuated by two cavalry escorts, and his whole body was so weak that he could not even hold the reins of his horse in his hand.

He looked at the smashed corpses on the street, pieces of flesh scattered all over the ground.

At this moment, his mind was not about the punishment for the loss of the port of Kurumus, but about whether they could still hold the vast area south of Kirden in the face of such a Ming army.

While he was dodging the shelling, Zheng He also put down the telescope in his hand and said calmly to Chen Xuan beside him:

"Timur's army retreated, and told the brethren to prepare to land, to take this Khrumus first, to build fortifications, and then to take the four islands at sea."

"Don't continue the pursuit?" Chen Xuan hurriedly asked, and pointed to the port of Kurumus and said: "Just that gang of wandering stragglers just now, as long as we go ashore, I dare to guarantee that we can take Kirden!" ”

"If gunpowder can be made here, I can even be confident that I can hit Isfahan City!"

Zheng He shook his head: "His Highness didn't let us take Kelden, now we will take Kurumus first, and then use carrier pigeons to send the news back in the officialdom everywhere, waiting for His Highness's decree." ”

At this point, he paused, pondered for a moment, and then looked at Kurumus and said:

"If His Highness says let's continue to go north, then then you will lead your army north to teach them some lessons."

"Good!" Hearing this, Chen Xuan rubbed his fists and feet, and his warlike expression was not concealed at all, and he directly turned back to the navy and said:

"Go ashore, everything will be distributed after it is seized!"

"Yes!!"

(End of chapter)

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