Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Xia Qing said that we can start working on the Ming Dynasty's national debt now?"

In the carriage back to the palace, Zhu Di leaned on the hard cushion and put his hand on his forehead and asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this matter does not require any money from the court, nor much manpower. The key is to explain the matter clearly. Besides, if the Ming Dynasty Treasury Bonds are really sold, there will be some benefits." Xia Yuanji squatted on the side of the carriage. On the golden pier.

Xia Yuanji was wearing a crimson official robe, a black gauze hat on his head, and a jade pendant hanging from his waist. He looked very powerful as a senior bureaucrat. At this moment, there was a somewhat serious and serious look on his face, which was completely different from the one he had just seen in the prison.

"Oh? Xia Qing might as well tell you what the benefits are?" Zhu Di asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nowadays, the reputation of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes among the people is very bad. Anyone who holds the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes is knowingly waiting for the currency notes to depreciate. And if the Ming Dynasty national debt is as imagined by Master Jiang, once it is issued, It will inevitably cause an uproar among the people. No matter how much the payment is, or how much the interest is, it is always a matter of "building a tree at the south gate". As long as the court does what it says, it will win the trust of the people when the time comes. After all, the most important thing now is the Ming Dynasty. domestic situation."

Xia Yuanji explained his thoughts: "Your Majesty, think about it, the various forces in the Ming Dynasty are complicated. Although it has been stabilized now, who can guarantee that if these things rush together and several things break out at the same time? , what effect will it have?”

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes and savored the meaning of Xia Yuanji's words.

After a while, Zhu Di said slowly: "Xia Qing wants me to use this Ming Dynasty national debt as something to stabilize the people of the world and tell all the forces in the world that even if I first ascended to the Great Treasure only a few months ago, there is no internal peace in the Ming Dynasty." It is considered stable, but I still firmly control the world, and I will continue to clean up the world. Issuing Ming government bonds to suppress the depreciation of treasure banknotes is a measure to reassure the people. I want to use this to create an unprecedented prosperous age, so that they can all live in peace? "

"That's right, Your Majesty is wise."

Xia Yuanji said with a smile: "Now all the forces are waiting and watching, and no one is willing to break this situation first. Even the Mei Prince Consort in Jiangbei, with more than 100,000 troops, isn't he still in a wait-and-see attitude without fighting or surrendering? "

What Xia Yuanji is talking about here is Mei Yin, the important auxiliary minister left to Emperor Jianwen by Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

From this point, it can also be seen that Zhu Di, who was basically based in the land of Youyan, relied on his iron cavalry to march straight to Nanjing to ascend the treasure. On the surface, Zhu Di was tyrannical and invincible, but in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, there were undercurrents of various forces.

The remnants of Jianwen who went to various places to recruit troops to "serve the king", the Hongwu nobles who were sent to various places to train soldiers and horses by Jianwen, and some of the vassal kings Zhu Di who still control the three guards must be carefully cleared one by one before they can truly sit down. His throne.

Any force that breaks out alone will be easily crushed by Zhu Di, but what Zhu Di is afraid of is that when there is a disturbance, it will cause chaos in all directions.

Even if suppressed by then, the situation will be severely damaged.

Therefore, Emperor Yongle needed to defeat these opponents who threatened his throne overtly or covertly one by one.

In fact, this is the reason why Zhu Di attaches great importance to Jiang Xinghuo.

Whether it was cutting down vassal vassals, going to the West, or suppressing the Jiangnan gentry, these things were all done by Zhu Di in Jiang Xinghuo's original history. Countless major events in the Yongle Dynasty were actually foreshadowed long before the first year of Yongle.

And Jiang Xinghuo has now opened countless doors to new worlds for Zhu Di, which can be called a treasure.

Every one of Jiang Xinghuo's strategies was adopted, except for the "three life-saving lines", which Zhu Di decided to move the capital back to the north to get rid of the influence of the Jiangnan gentry based on his own interests.

Others are very angry with Zhu Di.

Now, the move to reduce the vassal status is progressing steadily, and the vassal kings do not seem to be making any waves.

When the vassal reduction is basically completed and the vassal king no longer poses a threat to Zhu Di's throne, then the next step is to first shock the Jiangnan gentry, then unite the nobles, and finally win the hearts of the people.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty, which has completed its internal reintegration, will be able to strike hard at the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty who are still on the grassland and still miss the Central Plains!

Zhu Di's various inner thoughts are naturally incomprehensible to outsiders, he said to Xia Yuanji.

"Tomorrow I will personally lead the troops to the Susong and Jiahu mansions with several governors from the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, leaving the eldest prince to sit in Nanjing. It will take a few days to come back. If you have anything to do then, just go and find him."

Xia Yuanji's heart trembled. He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but in the end he quietly closed his mouth.

The emperor's determination to implement the "shared labor into the household" was greater than he imagined.

In other words, this is Zhu Di's style!

If he doesn't move, that's it. If he moves, he will take action personally, with thunderous force.

When Zhu Di was not Xia Yuanji's "Your Majesty" but "Yan Ni", Xia Yuanji realized Zhu Di's behavior countless times from the lamentations of ministers and the dark faces of the nobles of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. The horror of style.

Whether he left his base camp in Peiping alone and personally led his troops thousands of miles out to seize King Ning; or he paid attention to his confidant general Zhang Yuzhu Neng to take charge of the formation in every battle, but instead led a detour with his elite cavalry; or he simply abandoned the garrison. Huaidian's consort Mei Yin ignored it and bypassed the Huainan defense line and went straight to Nanjing.

Zhu Di likes to lead the team himself and win with one move.

Therefore, when Xia Yuanji heard that Zhu Di said that he would personally lead the troops to protect the Susong and Jiahu mansions with absolute force, and successfully implement the "shared labor into acres" during this autumn harvest, he was really not surprised at all.

Instead, there was a moment of silence for the Jiangnan gentry.

Now it's better, no matter whether you ask someone to protest or hide and become a deadbeat, it has no effect.

Emperor Yongle came directly to the door with a big sword and physically executed it.

"Your Majesty." Xia Yuanji said another matter, "How does Your Majesty plan to deal with Master Jiang? With all due respect, looking at the Ming Dynasty now, I am afraid that no one else can understand the operating system of this Ming Dynasty treasure banknote better than Master Jiang. As for the national debt , Master Jiang just mentioned a few simple words, which was enough to improve the depreciation of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, and the so-called interest rate inversion is a trick that I have never dreamed of."

"Xia Qing thinks that Jiang Xinghuo has more to say about how to run the country and benefit the people?" Zhu Di asked with a smile.

"Indeed, if Master Jiang is willing to come out and do things, I will give up my position as Minister of Household Affairs without any complaints. After all, Yu Shangshu has just retired, and this burden is still too heavy for me." Xia Yuanji Said softly.

"Thinking about retreating and thinking about the whole world?" Zhu Di put his arms around his arms and said with a smile, "My Minister of Household Affairs, it will take you twenty years to relieve yourself of this burden."

"As for Jiang Xinghuo's matter, I mean to ask Qin Tianjian to take the nearest horoscope and postpone the autumn execution in the name of not being suitable for killing."

Zhu Di sifted out a memorial from the box in the carriage and threw it to Xia Yuanji.

Xia Yuanji stood up to catch it, then sat back down again, just looking at it silently and not saying anything else.

"——A star was seen next to the Ce star. It was pale in color and had a five-inch glow. It went westward into Ziweiyuan and violated the heavenly prison. It was like a star but not a star, like a cloud but not a cloud. It was an evil star."

Nanjing City, Guwang's Residence.

after lunch.

Valley King Zhu Su and Princess Zhou were sitting in the garden pavilion drinking and chatting.

The two of them sat opposite each other and drank across the table.

The king of the valley, Zhu Su, raised his glass and said, "I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved concubine."

Princess Zhou was wearing a lavender palace dress embroidered with peony patterns. Her eyebrows were like ink paintings, her skin was as beautiful as snow, and her face was delicate and beautiful. She looked at Valley King Zhu Su with a smile and said softly "Yes".

Then he also raised the white jade cup in his hand, pursed his lips and smiled, and drank all the contents in the cup.

When the Valley King Zhu Su saw this, he was in a happy mood and couldn't help laughing. He also wanted to drink it all in one gulp.

He picked up the wine cup, took a sip to his mouth, and suddenly sighed: "Alas~~"

After the Valley King Zhu Su put down the wine cup, he suddenly sighed and said: "I haven't been able to sleep well in the past few days. I always feel uneasy. I don't know why."

Although Princess Zhou was just a female, she was born in a general family. Her father, Zhou Duo, was a veteran general of Hongwu. He once rode up to the Black Elk Peak alone to persuade the rebels to surrender. He was praised by Zhu Yuanzhang for his courage. Now he is serving as the governor of the rear army. Governor Qianshi.

Therefore, Princess Zhou, who was canonized as the royal concubine in the 28th year of Hongwu, did not show the cowardice of ordinary women, but asked directly.

"Your Highness, are you troubled?"

"There are some." Gu Wang Zhu Su sighed with emotion. "Over the years, everything in the court has been complicated. Although I tried my best to maintain the overall situation, I will inevitably encounter some obstacles. I once thought that I had a clear conscience for the country, and always Be able to follow through from beginning to end.”

He paused for a moment, then shook his head and smiled: "But today, looking at Li Jinglong's ending, I also know what Liu Changshi said before he died, 'His Royal Highness, King Yan, will not be able to escape a word of usurpation for a hundred generations.' What does it mean?" .”

"Your Highness, be careful what you say!"

"Liu Changshi was forced to death by His Majesty. Does Your Highness still want to take revenge?"

There is a saying in this. The Liu Changshi mentioned by King Gu is Liu Jing, the second son of Liu Bowen, who is sincere. Liu Jing was studious and liked to talk about war since he was a child. He was once appointed as a disciple by Zhu Yuanzhang and was given the title of "Exception". The iron slips used to treacherize enemies and correct the lawlessness of hundreds of officials are the proper iron-faced men.

Empress Liu Jing was promoted to Zuo Changshi of Prince Gu's Palace, with the power to regulate the affairs of the six palaces of Su, Liao, Yan, Zhao, Qing and Ning. After the Jingnan Army was launched, Liu Jing quickly returned to Beijing and presented the Sixteenth Plan for Ping Yan to Emperor Jianwen. Not surprisingly, it was not adopted.

Emperor Jianwen ordered Liu Jing to participate in the Northern War hosted by Li Jinglong. Li Jinglong claimed that he was the best in the world in talking about military affairs on paper. Of course, he could not tolerate another person who could also talk about military affairs, so he rushed back to Nanjing.

In the second year of Jianwen, Liu Jing went to Beijing despite being ill and wrote tens of thousands of words about military affairs in "Wen Jian Lu". Once again, he was not accepted, so he returned to his hometown.

Later, when the Yan army crossed the river, Li Jinglong and Zhu Su, the king of the valley, joined forces to sacrifice the Jinchuan Gate. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he recruited Liu Jing to surrender. Liu Jing hanged himself to death after retaining what the king of the valley had just said.

Of course, when the Valley King Zhu Su said these words at this time, he didn't really miss his teacher Liu Jing, who didn't listen to him when he was in charge of him. It was just a bit sad that the rabbit died and the fox died.

Princess Zhou quickly looked around and saw that there was no one in the garden, then she asked.

"Your Highness's information is accurate? Is Cao Guogong indeed imprisoned in prison?"

The Valley King Zhu Su drank wine to relieve his sorrow. After drinking all the wine in the glass again, he placed the wine glass heavily on the stone table and said.

"Absolutely true!"

"But wasn't Cao Guogong at the court meeting that day? I also heard that Cao Guogong protected the officials in court, preventing them from being beaten by the second prince." Princess Zhou asked in confusion.

"He is Cao Guogong! He is the head of hundreds of officials! How could he not show up?"

Valley King Zhu Su suddenly became irritable and walked around in the pavilion.

"Li Jinglong is indeed locked up. Do you remember Huang Wei?"

"I remember, I remember." Princess Zhou nodded, "That is the Deputy Qianhu of His Highness's left guard, a close confidant of His Highness, who has followed His Highness since the Xuan Mansion."

"When Gu Na's fourth brother entered Nanjing City, he dispersed the three thousand soldiers and horses that Gu brought with him, leaving only seven hundred men."

At this point, Valley King Zhu Su became more and more agitated. He lowered his voice and said: "Huang Wei was dismissed and reorganized into the rebuilt Jinyi Guard. Now he is serving thousands of households in the imperial prison. It was he who secretly reported to Gu!"

Princess Zhou's beauty turned pale: "Your Highness, you mean that Duke Cao Guo has been placed under house arrest by Your Majesty, and he was just released to be a puppet at the court meeting that day, to be manipulated by Your Majesty and unable to speak?"

"Yes, that's it."

"Fourth brother will not leave a way to survive." Gu Wang Zhu Su said almost through gritted teeth: "Liu Changshi was Gu's teacher, and he was forced to die in prison; Li Jinglong and Gu opened the Jinchuan Gate to surrender to the city, and now Within a few months, the fourth brother took action against Li Jinglong."

Valley King Zhu Su stared at Princess Zhou: "Next, it's Gu's turn!"

In fact, if the Valley King Zhu Su knew that Li Jinglong was in prison just to serve as a compliment to Jiang Xinghuo and allow Zhu Di to eavesdrop on the lecture, then he would not have committed such a rebellion so long ago in history where Jiang Xinghuo was. decision.

But the trick of fate is that the King of Valley doesn’t know!

The storm caused by Jiang Xinghuo's butterfly flapping its wings has become bigger and bigger.

History has shifted.

The strategy of reducing the vassal status by returning the three guards made the Valley King Zhu Su, who was already nervous and wary of Zhu Di, even more dissatisfied and intensified his distrust of Zhu Di.

As for Li Jinglong being imprisoned and suspected of being manipulated into a puppet by Zhu Di, the excitement for the Valley King Zhu Su was simply as tragic as a rabbit dying and a dog cooking.

He also surrendered at the Jinchuan Gate, but Li Jinglong was secretly controlled by Zhu Di. Wouldn't it be his turn next?

"Your Highness. Your Majesty will not do this." Princess Zhou tried her best to say, but her voice became softer and quieter.

"Why not? It's obvious to cut down the vassal, and let the kings return the three guards. I feel safe if I have soldiers in my hand. Without the soldiers, isn't it just at the mercy of others?"

Valley King Zhu Su flicked his sleeves.

"If the fourth brother was willing to give back the three guards, why would he raise an army to appease the enemy?"

Looking at her husband who was pacing back and forth in the pavilion, muttering "I will be alone next", "Fourth brother is cruel", "Our whole family is going underground to meet Taizu", Princess Zhou became impatient and blurted out: "How about the father who is looking for a concubine come to discuss it?"

This was what the Valley King Zhu Su was waiting for. He quickly grabbed Mrs. Zhou's sleeve and said repeatedly: "I love my concubine so much! I love my concubine so much!"

Zhou felt speechless, but she was pushed to this position in a hurry. When she thought about it, her fourth brother was indeed a murderous master. Now that he was going to cut down the vassal and captured Li Jinglong, her husband was indeed likely to be the next target. I shed tears in an instant.

"Why are you crying?"

Faced with the low roar of Valley King Zhu Su, Mrs. Zhou wiped her tears and said with tearful eyes.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will go find my father right now. There will be a way, there will be a way."