Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Three days later, it was late at night.

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu sat opposite each other.

"There are some things I shouldn't have said."

Li Jinglong took a sip of wine, and the words Jiang Xinghuo said a few days ago were vaguely lingering in his ears.

"Just tell me."

Zhu Gaoxu drank like water, and drank half the pot with a bang.

Li Jinglong hesitated for a moment as he spoke, and then drank a whole glass of wine before speaking.

"You know, Jiang Lang can't teach us lessons all his life in prison. Sooner or later, he will be released from prison one day, and this date is likely to be early next year, which is only a few months away."

According to the general amnesty rules, amnesty is usually announced after the first month of the year, but some criminals who conspired to rebel are not pardoned. Jiang Xinghuo was implicated by Fang Xiaoru, and Fang Xiaoru was not in the nature of rebellion.

Therefore, the Ministry of Punishment and other departments will jointly review the amnesty list, and then there will be a series of work. When these tasks are completed, the prisoner will be pardoned, which can take as long as two to three months, or as short as one month.

Jiang Xinghuo's estimate of one class every fifteen days, a total of nine classes, was based on the slowest time. Now one class has been taught, and there are eight classes left.

If you hurry up, you may not be able to wait until the end of eight classes, and you will be released from prison in about six or seven classes.

So a natural question was placed in front of the two of them.

What will Jiang Xinghuo do after he is released from prison?

"How do you plan to arrange Jiang Lang?" Li Jinglong asked.

"Why don't you call me Mr. Jiang?"

Zhu Gaoxu's beard was dripping with wine, but he didn't wipe it off and asked another topic.

"Have you been wondering about this title for a long time?" Li Jinglong smiled.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu nodding, he just replied: "Well, of course there are two reasons. First, Jiang Xinghuo is more than ten years younger than me. If you ask me to scream, I can't scream."

When Zhu Gaoxu saw the wrinkles on the sides of Li Jinglong's curved eyebrows, he vaguely realized that Li Jinglong still looked like a young nobleman, but now he was still in his thirties.

The custom passed down since the Tang Dynasty is that when elders address younger generations, they call them so-and-so husband, or they arrange them by row. For example, Li Shimin is called Li Erlang. In the Song and Ming Dynasties, this name became less common, and people were more often called "a certain brother", but that was not the case. On the contrary, "Lang" actually seemed to be taken more seriously.

"Secondly, we have known each other for a long time in Qinhuai. At that time, Jiang Xinghuo was known as 'Xiaoliu Yong' in the gentle village of Huachuan. The famous prostitute paid a lot of money but couldn't find the word. "

Zhu Gaoxu nodded. In the Song Dynasty, it was said that "anywhere with well water can sing willow lyrics." If someone can be called Xiaoliu Yong on the Qinhuai River, that is indeed a great reputation.

"The so-called Yangzhou dream of sleeping in ten years and winning the reputation of a brothel is not about Du Lang's handsomeness and Cardamom's lyricism." Li Jinglong smiled, "At that time, I often used this as an allusion and called him Jiang Lang. It’s called getting used to it.”

"I've finished answering, it's your turn."

The question of how to place Jiang Xinghuo has obviously been swirling in Zhu Gaoxu's mind for a long time.

"I thought at first that I just wanted to invite Mr. Jiang into the house to be a mastermind. I can satisfy him with any treasures, beauties, horses and chariots he wants. Just like Master Daoyan did to my father."

Zhu Gaoxu said it calmly.

"Later, I realized that I had made a mistake. Mr. Jiang gave me a lecture. Mr. Jiang kept all the money I gave him except using it to bribe the jailer to buy supplies."

"The last time I came to visit Mr. Jiang's cousin, do you remember?"

Li Jinglong nodded. They were the two who sent Jiang Xinghuo over to meet people.

"Mr. Jiang kept almost no copper and gave it all away."

"This is indeed like Jiang Lang's demeanor." Li Jinglong nodded slightly.

Zhu Gaoxu sighed: "He is too much like Master Dao Yan. He does not pursue the rich food and clothing that ordinary people want. Although he will not deliberately abuse himself, Mr. Jiang's requirements for daily life are nothing more than simple meals. For wealth, There are no worldly desires at all.”

"Standing against the wall, you will be strong without desire, so you think it is difficult for you to have any leverage to recruit Jiang Lang to do things for you." Li Jinglong explained a little.

"That's it." Zhu Gaoxu drank another half of the bottle of wine and shook the bottom of the bottle, "So I thought that since Mr. Jiang has no desires and demands, and I don't know so many sweet words, I can treat others with sincerity, just like... As Zhuge Wuhou said in "Chu Shi Biao", "Three visits to the ministers in the thatched cottage, the counselors were grateful for the affairs of the world, and then promised the late emperor to drive away." Maybe Mr. Jiang will be moved by me, The human heart is made of flesh."

Li Jinglong agreed: "Judging from the fact that Jiang Lang took out the fertilizer elixir, I think Jiang Lang also means to repay you and me. After all, from his point of view, both of you and I have aggravated the crime because of him. , he wants to use this thing to get you and me out of prison for meritorious service."

"That's what I originally thought."

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly looked at Li Jinglong: "But there is one thing I haven't asked you."

Li Jinglong's heart skipped a beat, this moment was finally coming.

"The first time I tried to steal Mr. Jiang out of jail, but Mr. Jiang was lost by the jailer on the way. At that time, my father came to me with a knife, and I knew something was wrong."

Zhu Gaoxu's face gradually became serious: "Later, you were thrown in. I am not a fool. How could you, the head of Cao Guogong's officials, be imprisoned without any explanation? And you were released together with me in that court meeting. .”

"Furthermore, what Mr. Jiang said about working as a slave laborer, and even the fact that I went to Ishima Yinshan's memorial three times but was perfunctorily returned three times by my father, I knew that you must have been sent by my father."

Li Jinglong never intended to fool Zhu Gaoxu into thinking that he was a fool. The two of them did not mention this matter. Instead, they had a vague understanding that they could not break the window paper every time they attended classes together.

But now, for some reason, this layer of window paper that had been pasted for a long time was suddenly pierced by Zhu Gaoxu.

Li Jinglong sighed.

"You shouldn't ask. If you do, the positions between you and me will be different, and we won't be able to pretend to be confused."

Li Jinglong brought up the new pot again and took a sip of wine at the spout: "I can't stand on your team. When it comes to fighting for the crown prince, it's hard for Qiu Fu and other Fengtian Jing and sincere Xuanli and military ministers to stand on your team. Even Wang Ning can stand on your team." A military minister like the Prince Consort who serves heaven to support the movement, promotes sincerity, and declares power can also stand on your team, but I, a minister who serves the heaven to assist the movement, promotes sincerity, and declares strength, cannot, do you understand?"

Li Jinglong and Qiu Fu also have ten-character titles.

Even among them, eight characters are exactly the same.

But the difference between the two words "Jingnan" and "auxiliary transportation" determines that Qiu Fu can generously support Zhu Gaoxu without any suspicion, and once Li Jinglong makes a decision on the issue of fighting for the reserve, let alone Expressing a stance, even secretly helping, will arouse Zhu Di's suspicion, which will then lead to the confiscation of nearly a thousand people in Cao Guogong's mansion.

Zhu Gaoxu waited for him to finish speaking before he said: "You can't be on my team, but you can get on my boat."

Li Jinglong put down the wine bottle and hit it heavily on the table.

He frowned tightly and looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

"You mean?"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded simply: "It's just as you thought."

"Are you really interested in colonizing overseas countries or even establishing a country overseas?" Li Jinglong was a little unbelievable.

Why would Zhu Gaoxu give up the position of crown prince that he was very likely to get, and leave the Ming Dynasty without inheriting it, but instead go overseas?

"It's not that I'm excited, but that I think this is an excellent opportunity!"

Zhu Gaoxu stared at Li Jinglong: "Mr. Cao Guo, you know that the people who support me as the prince are all military officials. These generals in the army formed a friendship with me through life and death together during the Jingnan period."

"If the Ming Dynasty had not fought wars and used civil servants to govern the country, it would not have taken several years. Due to the ebb and flow of one thing and another, my eldest brother had a legal advantage. When the time comes, the weak advantage I maintain now will soon disappear."

"Then how do you think it's my turn to make great achievements in the war? To achieve such great achievements that can stop everyone's mouth?"

Li Jinglong couldn't help frowning when he heard this question.

Although Zhu Gaoxu's contributions during the Jingnan War were great, they were all made in the role of "general". As a "general", he is naturally unparalleled in the world, but as a "handsome", he may not be as good as himself.

After all, it would be difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to handle just mobilizing the marching route, supplies along the way, logistics and transportation of an army of more than 100,000 people.

These things really cannot be accomplished steadily with a few experienced clerks or veterans guarding them.

These may sound like things on paper, but in reality, with a six-digit population, everyone’s mouth and legs can move on their own!

The same march plan requires various logistical materials to be prepared in different weather conditions. For example, in midsummer, the army cannot march in the scorching sun and needs to stagger the march morning and evening. At the same time, it is necessary to prepare drinks to cool down or a large pot. Stewed sour plums or mung beans, as well as medicinal materials to dispel heat and avoid miasma, must be prepared in advance.

These seemingly small things will actually affect the combat effectiveness of the unit. Even if the coach does not do it himself, he must be aware of it.

If an ordinary modern person comes, he only needs to experience being a tour guide and leading a tour group of dozens of people for a day to know whether he has the ability to lead a group.

Dozens of people will run around without obeying orders, with different thoughts and different demands. If the dozens of people become hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even 100,000 or hundreds of thousands. Woolen cloth?

The difficulty factor is doubled.

And Zhu Gaoxu is obviously not a handsome man who has the ability to coordinate and plan the march of more than 100,000 people eating, drinking, and eating, forming a stronghold, fighting, and retreating.

And having said that, even if Zhu Gaoxu had this ability, it would not be his turn to use it.

If we were to attack Annan, Japan, or Mongolia, even if there were two or three commanders in front of him, it would never be his turn.

If Zhu Gaoxu cannot prove that he is not just a fierce general, but a handsome man with the ability to take charge of his own role, then no matter how much he likes him in Zhu Di's heart, I am afraid it is just love.

In the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, the reason why Zhu Di personally led the Five Expeditions to Mobei was not because Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng died successively, but Zhang Fu's prestige was not enough, so that Zhu Di had no commanders to use, so he had to use his dignity as the emperor. Personally lead the troops in the northern expedition.

Therefore, since Zhu Gaoxu has achieved the ultimate in bravery, the only way to continue to increase his efforts on this path is to become a commander who can truly act on his own. This kind of commander is definitely not just a name and then let Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng do it. The deputy commander who is actually responsible for coordinating the overall situation is really in charge.

Only in this way will Zhu Gaoxu's status in Zhu Di's heart change from the beloved second son who lived with him through life and death to an indispensable pillar of the country.

Obviously, if it were the normal way, Zhu Gaoxu would never be able to do it in his life.

If you don't have the ability, you won't be able to get him in the second round.

But now, the opportunity has come.

"You mean, just follow the method Mr. Jiang said, and you don't need to wait until the fight for the reserve is successful or failed, but directly take the initiative to expand overseas to improve your prestige and status?" Li Jinglong frowned and asked road.

"It's not just me!"

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly grabbed his beard and smiled: "Do you, Mr. Cao Guo, want to bear the infamy of abandoning the army at Baigou River and causing the world to overthrow all your life?"

"I heard that now everyone dare not say it in front of you, and they all say behind your back that you are Zhao Kuo's second best."

Li Jinglong did not show obvious anger, but Zhu Gaoxu still noticed that he hid his hands in his sleeves.

"Cao Guogong, if you don't follow Mr. Jiang's idea and go overseas to make achievements, you will never have the opportunity to lead an army again in this life. If it is not your turn, my father will not use you."

Zhu Gaoxu said sincerely: "But it is different to fight overseas. There are not many people who understand the navy, and there are even fewer people who have the ability to coordinate tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops. What's more, this is not only an opportunity to stand alone, but at the same time I am afraid there will be no People are really willing to lead troops.”

"Come on my ship. You will coordinate the overall situation, and I will lead the troops in the war. We will complement each other's strengths."

Li Jinglong was silent for a moment.

One of them is good at fighting but not good at uniting, and the other is good at uniting but not good at fighting. They really complement each other quite well.

Li Jinglong just didn't care on the surface. How could he, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sun Wu, tolerate himself living in infamy and melancholy until his death, never having the chance to display his talents again?

How will future generations evaluate yourself? Zhao Kuo, who can only talk on paper but is a mess in actual combat, is second.

Being nailed to the history books forever for future generations to laugh at.

Li Jinglong finally said: "Will Your Majesty agree?"

Seeing Li Jinglong's heart fluttering, Zhu Gaoxu asked instead.

"That's the crux of the matter, and that's why I'm going to pierce the window paper tonight."

"Mr. Cao Guo, you must answer me truthfully and don't lie to me, otherwise you will continue rowing in the Qinhuai River for the rest of your life. If you want to lead an army overseas, I may not be able to help you, but I will definitely make trouble for you."

Li Jinglong's face turned dark. He really believed that with Zhu Gaoxu's influence in the army, he could indeed do what he said.

I really didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu, who was usually so carefree, was now hiding his thoughts and waiting for him.

No wonder Zhu Gaoxu would take the initiative to pierce this layer of window paper tonight.

"Just ask."

"After listening to your story, what is your attitude toward Mr. Jiang?"

Li Jinglong was silent for a few moments before speaking.

"Shocking, literally."

Zhu Gaoxu blurted out: "Mr. Cao Guo, are you saying that my father thinks Mr. Jiang might really be a 'celestial being'?"

At this point, if Li Jinglong is unwilling to give up and still wants to wash away his infamy and make some achievements in the rest of his life to prove that he is an "a layman in civil war and an expert in foreign wars", then he can only tell the truth.

"That's it. Your Majesty also knows about the things you heard about, whether they are silver banknotes, Ming Dynasty national debts or other things. And in the not-too-distant future, I'm afraid these things will become a reality."

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's somewhat horrified eyes, Li Jinglong smiled bitterly and said: "You don't even know how many lives Ma He has been sent to the shipyard in Quanzhou, Fujian. The mission to Japan is ready, and the mission is full of spies. , there are not many serious officials of the Ministry of Rites, just to find the specific locations of Iwami Ginzan and Sado Jinshan."

"Moreover, how do you think His Majesty believed it? Master Daoyan, Yuan Gong, Yuan Zhenren, and even Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain have all calculated it."

"What's the result?" Zhu Gaoxu asked eagerly.

"Master Yuan does not dare to continue seeing each other. Master Daoyan's Heavenly King's Palace was struck in half by lightning. Master Zhang seems to have gone crazy."

After hearing Li Jinglong's answer, Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment.

He knew exactly what this meant.

At least from a mystical perspective, since the three most knowledgeable fortune tellers in the world have come to the same conclusion, Jiang Xinghuo's identity as a 'celestial being' has almost been confirmed.

Zhu Gaoxu adjusted his mood before continuing to ask.

"Then how does Your Majesty plan to treat Mr. Jiang after he is released from prison?"

"I heard that he planned to become a national master." Li Jinglong vaguely heard what Zhu Di meant when he met Zhu Di in private.

Now that he and Zhu Gaoxu have reached an agreement on the proposition of going to sea and have become short-term allies, there is naturally no need to worry about anything.

Zhu Gaoxu asked again: "Are you just worshiping as a national teacher? Don't you do anything?"

"Of course there are things to do."

Li Jinglong guessed: "I personally speculate that His Majesty has already personally promoted the work in the south of the Yangtze River. Attacking Japan may or may not require Jiang Lang; but other things such as the reform of silver banknotes, the promotion of chemical fertilizers and crop rotation The use, colonial expansion of the West, etc., all must be done by Jiang Lang. After all, apart from him, almost no one knows these things in more detail."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded repeatedly, and when Li Jinglong said this, he suddenly paused and then added something.

"Besides, there is another huge thing that only Jiang Lang can accomplish."

"whats the matter?"

Li Jinglong thought of what Zhu Di had said to him in private, as well as Dao Yan's attitude, and said uncertainly.

"Perhaps, His Majesty has the idea of ​​overturning or restricting Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. However, respecting Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and using the eight-legged essay to recruit scholars are also the ancestral systems established by Emperor Taizu Gao."

At this point, Li Jinglong suddenly laughed. He was overthinking.

What is ancestral system or not?

Zhu Laosi becoming emperor was the biggest violation of the ancestral system.

In this case, if Zhu Di wanted to attack the group of Jiangnan gentry who were trained to firmly support Emperor Jianwen, it would be natural to start with Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, their ideological weapon.

As Zhu Gaoxu didn't study, he naturally didn't know how slim the success rate was for trying to overthrow the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which had been established by countless generations of great scholars and spent two hundred years, and was so nearly perfect that it was completely logically self-defeating.

Instead, Zhu Gaoxu nodded seriously: "As long as Mr. Jiang wants to do it, he can certainly do it. He can just overthrow Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism."

Li Jinglong sighed and gave up the idea of ​​explaining to him the difficulty.

I don’t know if the other party is too confident in his Mr. Jiang.

Or is it just a summer insect that cannot be said to be ice-like.

Zhu Gaoxu also knew at this time that since his father Zhu Di was so fond of Jiang Xinghuo, it would definitely be impossible for him to take Mr. Jiang into his pocket as the mastermind.

He couldn't fight for the people or things Zhu Di wanted.

So Zhu Gaoxu, who put it down instead, said with a smile.

"Presiding over the transition from Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes to silver treasure banknotes, promoting chemical fertilizers and crop rotations throughout the Ming Dynasty, and coordinating the Western colonial expansion, well, there is also one important thing that overturned Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. In this way, Mr. Jiang After being released from prison, I should be very busy."

Li Jinglong thought that if Jiang Xinghuo was released from prison, he would really know all this.

I knew that he was giving lectures to the prince and the Duke every day, and that the emperor, the prince, and the ministers were eavesdropping next door.

Jiang Xinghuo's expression will probably be very exciting.

"Haha, if Jiang Lang really knows that he has been assigned so many things, and in the next six to eight classes, most of the measures he has guided Jiang Shan to propose will be implemented by him personally. I really don’t know what it will be like?”

Zhu Gaoxu also couldn't help laughing.

"It's like digging a hole for yourself, the more you dig, the more motivated you become, thinking that the hole has nothing to do with you, but in the end you find out that it was a hole you dug for yourself?"

The two of them laughed loudly when they thought about this. When they thought of the omniscient Jiang Xinghuo, they would never have imagined this ending. They had to fill the holes they dug for themselves one by one. That was really too much. It makes people happy.

A wise man will always make a mistake, and this mistake will make Jiang Xinghuo regret so much that he beats his chest and regrets why he had to give advice in prison.

He thought that giving advice would not change anything.

But after he gave his advice, the country really changed.

In the taxation system of the Ming Dynasty, corvee was abolished. After the conquest of Japan was over and the Iwami Silver Mountain was obtained, the silver monorail system would be established based on this. The Ming Dynasty's national debt was used to increase the currency value of the treasure banknotes, and the treasure banknotes were withdrawn to establish the silver treasure banknote system. ; Promote chemical fertilizers and crop rotation and intercropping systems to lay the foundation for large-scale population growth and restore national strength; at the same time, colonize overseas to relieve population pressure for the future Ming Dynasty, while nurturing local agriculture.

A new empire on which "the sun never sets" is about to rise.

Wherever the sun and moon shine, regardless of land or sea, is the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The original reason for all this was that Jiang Xinghuo was free in prison and giving advice.

The people who listened to his guidance happened to be the highest decision-makers of the Ming Empire.

As a result, the world line began to shift hugely. This butterfly effect was not only reflected in King Gu's early rebellion, but also had a profound impact on many people and events, and then completely shifted to the point where even the power of historical correction could not stop it. .

When Jiang Xinghuo is released from prison, he will be surprised to see that the streets of Nanjing are covered with notices for the sale of such and such Ming treasury bonds. The people's corvee has been cancelled, and the fields have regained their vitality. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty has once again used After the regiment completed its exploration, it regained Jeju Island, occupied Tsushima Island, and was ready to launch a crusade against the disloyal country Japan.

Just when Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu were expecting Jiang Xinghuo's expression of disbelief after knowing all this.

Thousands of miles away in Quanzhou Shipyard, Ma He was cursing at the sea breeze in the night.