"Since the opening of our country, everything has been entrusted by the gods and spirits: our country has not been a subject to foreign countries since ancient times, and it will not be subject to foreign missions in the future.

"The small country of Yuer actually dares to refute the face of the Celestial Empire, and it should send troops to sweep away the unsubordinate!"

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

In July of the tenth year of Yongle, when the Japanese envoys and the Xichang detective sent Japanese intelligence to Nanjing, the court meeting in the West Corner Gate also quarreled and was lively because of this matter.

In the West Corner Gate, which is not large, more than 200 civil and military officials above the fifth rank stand around, as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's favorite son before his death, and Ashikaga Mitsutaka who escorted him to the Ming Dynasty.

Ashikaga Mitsutaka is the uncle of Ashikaga Yoshitsugu and Ashikaga Yoshimori, and has a good relationship with many of the Ashikaga clan's retainers, and once something happens in Japan, he also has the ability to help Ashikaga Yoshiji, so Ashikaga Yoshimitsu will send him to Daming.

Knowing that Ashikaga Yoshimochi refused to be a vassal to the Ming Dynasty, he immediately took Ashikaga Yoshiji to ask to see the emperor, and came to the West Corner Gate to participate in the Ming Dynasty's Chang Dynasty.

Seeing that the military attachés collectively asked for troops, Ashikaga Mitsutaka felt nervous, and he was worried that the Ming Dynasty would forcibly occupy Japan by sending troops like Jiaozhi.

However, it turned out that he was thinking too much, because the military attache alone was not enough to decide whether to send troops to Japan.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that you can't send troops to the sun......"

Xie Jin, a scholar of the Imperial Palace, stood up and said, "When Emperor Gao of the former Taizu Emperor, he set up fifteen countries that would not be conquered. ”

"Even in Annan, the imperial court is because of Annan's Hu family's provocation, and the Chen family doesn't care about it, so it sent troops to correct Renjun Chen Yao."

"Although Japan is not a minister, it is still willing to trade with the imperial court, and the imperial court does not need to mobilize the people and waste money for a nominal title."

Although all countries know that it is only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty eats Annan, this does not prevent the current lord of Annan from still being Chen Yao of the Chen family who is nearly eighty years old and has no descendants.

As long as he is alive, then Annan has not perished, although all countries know that once Chen Yao dies, the Ming Dynasty will immediately turn Jiaozhi into a nominal and de facto part of the Ming Dynasty, but no one dares to protest.

After all, no matter what, the war between Annan and Daming was provoked by Annan.

"Your Majesty, the minister seconded the proposal!"

When Xie Jin opened his mouth, Yang Shiqi, Hu Guang, Hu Yan, Huang Huai and others opened their mouths to echo, and even Song Li, Guo Zi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu all stood up one after another to express their conquest for Japan's rejuvenation of the army.

At present, the affairs of Dongzhou have not been exposed, so even the civil officials subordinate to Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu do not know that the father and son want to use the Japanese rebellion to seek a supply point in northern Japan.

In their opinion, it is enough to keep the current market trade.

In the final analysis, Japan is also a large country with a population of 10 million, and once a war breaks out with it, and it is impossible to tell the winner in a short period of time, it will definitely affect the Japanese market.

The Japanese market can bring two million yuan of income to Daming every year, and once it is affected, it will be completely worth the loss for Daming.

What's more, in the eyes of the ministers, whether this battle is won or lost, it is not good for the Ming Dynasty.

If you win, it's just to maintain the trade of the city and get the title of a monarch.

It would be bad if it was lost, and once the market trade was cut off, the annual income of two million guan would evaporate.

Today's normal annual income of Daming is only more than 32 million yuan, and it has evaporated by one-sixteenth all of a sudden, which is not a big blow.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are wrong to say!"

When Wenchen finished speaking, among the military attachés, Yang Zhan, the Duke of Yueguo, who had not been to the court for several years, came out and said:

"As everyone knows, the Japanese lord Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was canonized by the imperial court, and his favorite son was Ashikaga Yoshiji, the third son of the kokuko prison, and sent envoys to hope that the imperial court would support Ashikaga Yoshiji."

"If the imperial court no longer fulfills the promise promised to the Japanese lord only because of the death of the people, then the prestige of the imperial court will be swept away, you must know that the reason why the maritime countries agreed to set up the subject pavilion is because the imperial court once promised the lord of each country, once the countries encounter a war, the soldiers and horses of the subject pavilion will escort the lord of each country to the Ming Dynasty, waiting for the restoration of the country."

"If the imperial court can't even do what it promised the Japanese lord, then how can it convince the lords of various countries?"

"Secondly, the imperial court is currently preparing to develop the Great Ming Ocean shipping route, and Mutsu in northern Japan is an important part of the shipping route."

"With the attitude of the traitor Ashikaga Yoshitoshi, it is basically impossible for the imperial court to build an officialdom in Mutsu, so the opening of the Daming Ocean Passage can only be abandoned."

"In the end, if the Ashikaga Yoshinori incident is not quelled this time, many officials in the center of Japan who belong to the imperial court will be purged, which will be detrimental to the imperial court and Japan's diplomacy."

"As far as the minister knows, after Ashikaga Yoshimochi refused to be a minister, he raised a butcher's knife against many officials in Kyoto Castle who belonged to the imperial court that night."

"After this incident was exposed, people in Kansai and Kanto in Japan were panicked, and they urgently needed the imperial court to express their stance in order to stand in line."

"Once the imperial court is willing to support Ashikaga Yoshiji, then the officials of Kansai and Kanto, even if they do not side with the imperial court, will not deal with the traitor Ashikaga Yoshinori against the imperial court."

"What Ashikaga Yoshinori can grasp is nothing more than the land of Gyeonggi in Japan, and there are only 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands."

"At present, although most of the ships of the navy are being overhauled, there are still 15 treasure ships, 40 Daifuku warships, and 60 horse ships."

"If you add the soldiers and horses of the whale guard, the imperial court can send tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to put down the rebellion against the traitor Ashikaga Yoshishi in the land of Gyeonggi."

"Of course, before that, you still need to get the consent of Ashikaga Yoshitsuko."

As Yang Zhan spoke, he drew his attention and topic to Ashikaga Yoshitsugu and Ashikaga Mitsutaka, who were standing in the hall and listening for most of the hour.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu has to say that he was very lucky, he was sent to study in Daming at the age of ten, and now he is sixteen years old.

Because of the local customs in Daming, his diet is also biased towards the scholars and doctors of Daming, so the development is very rapid.

In the Ming Dynasty, his height of five feet (160cm) was considered to be in the middle and lower, but in Japan, he was one of the tallest people in the world.

Standing next to him, the already very old Ashikaga Mitsutaka was only 4 feet 7 inches (150 cm), which was already considered the height of the upper middle class in Japan, and Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was more than half a head taller than him.

Give him a few more years of tomorrow, I'm afraid he can rise by another inch or two.

Because of this, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is most satisfied with the height he has grown by living in the Ming Dynasty, and he also considers himself the son of Japan on weekdays.

Now his half-brother Ashikaga Yoshinori not only wants to sever the relationship between the monarch and the minister of Tomorrow, but also wants him to return to Japan to become a monk, so he is very frightened.

Especially when he saw that most of the civil officials in the temple refused to send troops to Japan to help him restore the country, his mood could be described as deathly.

Under such circumstances, the words of Yang Zhan, the Duke of Yueguo, undoubtedly made him see the dawn, and hurriedly made a move:

"Your Majesty begs Your Majesty to send troops to restore the country!"

He sobbed under his breath as he spoke, a method taught to him by his uncle Ashikaga Mitsutaka.

When his sobbing sounded, Zhu Gaoxu, who didn't speak for a while, also turned to Zhu Di on the golden platform and said:

"Your Majesty, a man does not stand without faith, and so does the country."

"I, the Great Ming Sect, went from the East to the West, if I sit idly by and ignore the civil strife in Japan, then how can I convince the imperial court of the vassal states thousands of miles away?"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Guo Zi, Song Li and others, who had previously followed Xie Jin and the others to speak, looked at each other and slowly retreated into the team.

Seeing them retreat, the others also retreated, but Xie Jin was still arrogant and stood in front of the team like a big goose.

Zhu Di glanced at him, shook his head inwardly and then spoke: "The prince is reasonable, Japan is my vassal, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is respectful to the Ming Dynasty, and I am like a father and son, and now he has been dead for only three years, and civil strife has broken out in his country." ”

"If I can't fulfill the covenant I made with him, I will be troubled."

"Pingjiang Marquis Chen Xuan, Pingyue Bo Yang Wen, Zuo Du Governor Xu Zengshou......" Zhu Di slowly read out the three names, and the three military attaches slowly walked out of the military attache team.

Chen Xuan, the Marquis of Pingjiang, often haunted the temple before going to the West, and everyone was very familiar with him.

is Pingyue Bo Yang Wen, as the second generation of the army in Huaixi, he is not young, and now he is sixty years old.

Because Zhu Yunwen was worried that he would collude with Zhu Gaoxu during the Battle of Jingjing, he sent him to Guangxi to encircle and suppress bandits.

In fact, Yang Wen himself was confused, after all, he had a recommended relationship with Zhu Gaoxu, and the two had never met at all in the Hongwu and Jianwen dynasties, and he didn't know how he was classified as a general of the East Palace faction.

Seeing that those who were not as capable as himself had earls and marquises, Yang Wen didn't say how uncomfortable he was.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu did not forget him, and transferred him to the southwest to participate in the war against Guizhou, which earned the title of Earl of Pingyue.

As for Xu Zengshou, who was summoned by Zhu Di at the end, it is needless to say that Zhu Di has been taking him with him all these years, in the final analysis, he is thinking of Xu Zengshou's help in the Jing disaster, and missing his deceased wife Queen Xu.

With Xu Zengshou's merits, although he is not outstanding, it is still easy to become a marquis.

However, Zhu Di obviously felt that the marquis was too low, so he was ready to let Xu Zengshou get a duke in one go.

This time against Japan, Zhu Di knew that Xu Zengshou was not good at naval warfare, but he still called him out, and it was no surprise that he asked him to mix military merits.

"Mobilize the three guards of the East China Sea, the East Ocean, and the Whale Sea, with Chen Xuan, the Marquis of Pingjiang, as the general of the Ping Wa Army, Yang Wen, the Bo of Pingyue, and Xu Zengshou, the governor of the Zuo Capital, as the left and right generals, and the Wei Commander makes Zheng Jun the vanguard officer, and the three guards are transferred, and the Japanese prince will be escorted back to Japan in the near future, and the peace will not be subordinate."

"Command!"

When the words of sending troops to Japan came out of Zhu Di's mouth, the ministers knew that there was another big expense this year.

However, the current temple is basically a hall of words between Zhu Di and his son, and it is useless for the ministers to oppose it, so they can only take this errand head-on.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu and Ashikaga Mitsutaka didn't expect this matter to go so smoothly, and hurriedly knelt down five times and bowed three times, and finally got up in Zhu Di's appeasement.

"Retreat from the ......"

With the singing of Honglu Temple, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu also got up and went to the rear rest place of the West Corner Gatehouse.

"You can handle Japan's affairs yourself, and I won't interfere."

When he came to the apse, Zhu Di sat down and drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat, while Zhu Gaoxu bowed: "Father can rest assured." ”

"How is the implementation of the new policies in Shanxi, Beizhili and Henan?" Compared with foreign things, Zhu Di cares more about domestic affairs.

"It's basically over, the total population of the three provinces is 12.36 million, and the cultivated land has not changed much."

"More than 1,800 government schools have been opened in the three places, with more than 564,300 students enrolled, and most of the teaching and training schools have been transferred from Shandong and Liaodong."

"Not surprisingly, at the end of the year, after graduating from Shandong, Liaodong, and Bohai, there will probably be more than 50,000 teachers left, so Erchen is ready to expand the new policy of Susong Erfu to Jiangdong Liufu first."

The six prefectures of Jiangdong are Suzhou, Songjiang, Zhenjiang, Yingtian, Changzhou, and Yangzhou, and these six prefectures occupy 20% of the world's taxes during the Hongwu period, and the population is difficult to count.

However, according to the "Yellow Book" in the fourteenth year of Hongwu, the population of the six prefectures accounted for almost half of Nanzhili.

The implementation of the new policy in the six provinces is no less difficult than that of one province in terms of population and the amount of arable land.

As long as the implementation of the new policy of the six governments is successful, it will be much easier to implement the new policy for Nanzhili.

"In the land of the Six Mansions, at least 50,000 teachers need to be transferred, and 30,000 officials are enough."

Zhu Gaoxu told Zhu Di his estimates, and also said: "Judging from the population statistics of various places in the New Deal, the population of the six prefectures in Jiangdong may not be less than eight million now. ”

He said a terrifying number in his mouth, you must know that the Ming Dynasty has a population of more than 80 million now.

The area of the six prefectures in Jiangdong is less than one percent of the Ming Dynasty, but it accounts for one-tenth of the population, which shows the density of the local population.

This is still the situation that the Ming Dynasty has only been around for more than 40 years, and it is even more terrifying if it is placed in the Wanli period, and the population of the land of Liufu is basically maintained at about 20 million, and the population has reached the level of one-eighth of the country.

Of course, the area of cultivated land in the area is also very terrifying, reaching more than 40 million mu.

If we follow the new tax method of ten taxes and one tax, these more than 40 million mu of cultivated land can collect at least 7 or 8 million stones, but at present, they only pay more than 4 million stones.

The reason is the same as that in Shandong and Shanxi, mainly because he was exploited by the officials, so he felt high.

The difference is that at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the officials dare not exploit it too blatantly, so these six prefectures can pay so much tax and grain.

If the officials of the six prefectures in Jiangdong were replaced by officials of the new policy, the burden on the people would be reduced and the treasury of the imperial court would increase, which was the win-win situation that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to obtain.

"The matter of the New Deal, you keep an eye on it yourself, they dare not oppose you above the temple, but if you incite the people, this matter will not end well."

Zhu Di pointed at Zhu Gaoxu, he knew very well that the people of Jiangdong were still attacking the issue of taxation, and almost from the founding of Hongwu to the present, the people have been shouting the slogan that Jiangdong is overtaxed.

Among them, the main thing is that the officials are exploited, so the local officials can unite and pull out a lot of forces.

However, compared to Zhu Di's worries, Zhu Gaoxu looked much more domineering: "Dad, it's time for your thoughts to change." ”

"Huh?" Zhu Di was stunned, and Zhu Gaoxu also spoke:

"At the moment, we don't have much else in our hands, just talking about measuring acres of land and calculating taxes and grains, it can be said that there are hundreds of thousands of people every year, and we don't have to compromise like our grandfather for a long time."

"Erchen's implementation of the new policy on the six prefectures of Jiangdong this time is not simply to sort out taxes and reduce the pressure on the people, but to fill the treasury."

At this moment, if those officials who were dispersing the dynasty heard Zhu Gaoxu say that Zhu Yuanzhang "made compromises", I am afraid that they would be so angry that they would scold at the West Corner Gate.

Although the Hongwu Four Major Cases are not as exaggerated as the executions of hundreds of thousands in later generations, there are definitely hundreds of thousands of exiled people.

In this era, such "atrocities" are almost comparable to the population consumed by the Qin Emperor and Han Wu to repair the Great Wall and attack the Xiongnu.

But even so, in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes, he still felt that Lao Zhu was too aggrieved, especially in the case of the North and South List.

Of course, this is not because Lao Zhu is not strong enough, but because the Guozijian has been infiltrated at that time.

Zhu Gaoxu is sure that if Lao Zhu has so many students at present, the temple will not be cleaned by him, and he will be counted as his "Holy Mother".

In comparison, Zhu Gaoxu's practice of only cleaning up the officials is not an exaggeration to say that the Buddha is alive.

"Dick, how do you want to get ......"

Although later generations scolded Zhu Di as a tyrant, he was at most ruthless in politics, but only tens of thousands of people were implicated, and most of them were exiled.

Compared with Zhu Gaoxu, who involved Jianwen's former ministers from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, Zhu Di can be regarded as a "virgin".

Therefore, when he heard that Zhu Gaochu was going to attack the officials of the six prefectures in Jiangdong, he immediately thought of Zhu Gaoxu's past methods.

Even he, who is a father, can't help but feel that his second child is a little too "brutal".

"Erchen has said, I will definitely let you go on a northern expedition next year, but this time in the Northern Expedition, Erchen wants to divide the troops into two routes, the main force will go to Hulan with you, and the other team will be led by Xu Kai, Ping'an, and Guo Yong to Hami."

"When you contain the main forces of the three major departments of Warat, the three of them will immediately take Hami, move the thousands of Hu people in Hami, and then send the officials from the six provinces in Jiangdong to go to Hami, Guizhou and other places where the Han family population is empty."

"At present, there are more than 2,000 officials in the six prefectures of Jiangdong, and at least ninety and a half of them have unclean buttocks."

"If we investigate their cases clearly, we can find at least 70,000 or 80,000 people......"

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Zhu Di unable to sit still, 2,000 people implicated 70,000 or 80,000 people, Zhu Gaoxu's idea was that even he had to break out in a cold sweat when he heard it.

"Second brother, if you do this, I'm afraid the people of Jiangdong will ......"

Before Zhu Di finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu spoke: "Yang Zhan is now training troops in Jiangdong, and I am also preparing to transfer soldiers and horses from Zhejiang and Lianghuai to enter the six prefectures of Jiangdong in advance. ”

"At that time, there will be at least seventy or eighty thousand imperial soldiers and horses stationed in the six prefectures of Jiangdong, and most of them will be northern soldiers from the north who have changed their defenses, and they will not empathize with these officials."

"All the people of Jiangdong who dare to follow and make trouble will be arrested as accomplices and exiled with the main culprit."

"The new policy implemented by the imperial court is to enrich the treasury and reduce the pressure on the people, if some stupid people are bewitched and attack the imperial court, then such people do not let them have a long memory, I am afraid that they will dare to kill the officials of the imperial court in the future."

"The temporary suppression is for the sake of long-term peace in the future, and you can't be a woman's kindness."

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Zhu Di feel a little strange, obviously the second child himself was going to do something to the officials of the six mansions in Jiangdong, how could he become his own woman's benevolence?

"This thing...... You can do it yourself, don't make things too big, and after the implementation of the new policies of the six prefectures in Jiangdong, I am afraid that the burden on the treasury will be heavier, have you thought about how to deal with it? ”

Zhu Di is worried about financial problems, which is also a problem that Zhu Gaoxu is worried about, but the gold, silver and spices that Zheng He brought back and the old background that Lao Zhu once left are enough for Zhu Gaochu to gnaw on for two or three years.

With this money and food as the foundation, two or three years is enough time for Zhu Gaoxu to adjust the policy, so there is no need to worry about this.

"You don't have to worry about these things, you just need to prepare for the transfer of money and grain for the Northern Expedition in the second half of the year."

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Zhu Di, then got up and prepared to walk out of the West Corner Gate.

But before he walked out, he stopped and said to Zhu Di: "Dad, you don't have to abdicate in a hurry when you come back from the Northern Expedition, it doesn't hurt if you work for another two years." ”

Zhu Gaoxu was worried that the old man would abdicate and let him take up his post when he came back, and the affairs of Jiangnan would not be resolved by then, and he would have to solve the affairs of Jiangnan as soon as he took up his post, and his reputation would definitely not be good.

Naturally, he had to use the old man's name to implement the new policy in Jiangnan, and then under the pretext of not changing his father's will for three years, he implemented the new policy in the remaining Huguang, Fujian and other places, and then began to implement his own benevolent policy.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty can prosper for several more decades.

"Something doesn't feel right......"

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's distant back, Zhu Di stroked his beard, and always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say it.

Compared with the feeling that he couldn't speak, Zhu Gaoxu ushered in good things at this moment.

"Your Highness!"

As soon as he walked out of the West Corner Gate, he saw Yisha, who was happily waiting in place.

"What's the matter, what's going on so happy?"

Zhu Gaochu asked suspiciously, but Yizha quickly stepped forward, and then said to Zhu Gaoxu:

"There is news from Da Gura, Wang Ren has arrived in Dongzhou, and has established contact with several local indigenous tribes, and is collecting cinchona bark and rubber for the imperial court at the moment, but the progress is not fast."

"In addition, he was introduced to the capital of a local country, which should be the same place as the Yin family drawn on the map."

"This news is the news that he sent three warships to Kunlunjiao before setting off with the local natives, and then went north to Mugudushu and crossed the Xiaoxi Ocean to Dagura."

"Two of the three ships capsized, and only one arrived at Dagura with more than 200 people."

Yisha quickly told Zhu Gaoxu all the news, and Zhu Gaoxu also snatched the note written by Da Gu Ra in his hand after hearing it.

After reading it at a glance, he found that the day Wang Ren arrived was the twelfth day of the first month, and the time when he sent three ships was the seventh day of the second month.

Due to the short amount of time, he didn't find much to find, but only had people bring back some crops grown by the locals first, and brought back the news of their safe arrival.

It took more than four months for these three ships to deliver the news to Da Gura, and then Da Gu Ra sent Tang Qi all the way to Manmo, and Wang Xuan of Manmo sent 800 li to expedite it, and after 17 days, it was sent all the way to the capital.

In other words, nearly five months have passed since Wang Ren set off for Yin's house.

"Good, good!" Although he didn't know what crops of seeds Wang Ren had sent back, as long as the route was successful, it would be much easier to get the crops and gold and silver he had always dreamed of.

"Promote Wang Ren and his soldiers to the third level, and tell Zheng He and my father the news!"

Zhu Gaoxu excitedly closed the music, patted Yishuha on the shoulder, and hurriedly went to the East Palace to embark on the return journey.

Seeing this, Yisha also trotted all the way into the West Corner Gatehouse and told the news to Zhu Di, who was still pondering.

Compared with Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di's mood was much calmer, but if they knew how much benefit Wang Ren's voyage would bring to the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that no one would be able to sit still......

(End of chapter)