Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Jin Ou is a basin made of gold, usually used as a metaphor for the completeness of territory.

Casting lots means drawing lots.

What I want to say here is that using divination (drawing lots) to make decisions is really not a joke, but a temple custom with a long history and tradition in ancient China.

The origin of divination is very early. "Shangshu Dayu Mo" records that Shun wanted to pass the throne to Yu. Dayu replied, "The heroes of divination are only those who are lucky." People accept the throne.

"Song Book·Wang Hua Biography" records that Kong Ningzi once said to Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty, "The way of Longhua is not to get talents before the officials; when it comes to divination, don't do it with caution." The so-called "the method of divination" ” refers to the fair selection of officials with equal qualifications through drawing lots.

Divination can be used to select kings, officials, and prime ministers. "Old History of the Five Dynasties: Lu Wenji Biography" records that Li Congke wrote the names of high-ranking officials who were promising at that time on a piece of paper, and then put it into colored glaze. Burn incense on a moonlit night and pray in the sky. At noon the next day, pick it up with chopsticks to decide on the candidate for prime minister.

In the Ming Dynasty, in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, divination was used more widely. It was not only used by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty to select the prince-in-law, the cabinet bachelor, and even the number one scholar.

Well, if Emperor Jianwen also used divination instead of looking at faces, Wang Gen would have a greater chance of becoming the number one scholar.

In short, using divination to decide which of the two princes will go to North Zhili and who will go to South Zhili is really a very fair thing and no one can fault it.

Soon, Zhu Gaosui narrowed his eyes and held a golden pot with both hands.

Zhu Di personally took out two lots from his arms.

Obviously the emperor personally guaranteed that the two lots had not been manipulated or leaked, and whoever drew the lottery would be the winner.

A line of sweat ran down Zhu Gaochi's fat face. Then he took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little.

So the two of them put their hands into the lottery tube at the same time. There was a clattering sound from the lottery tube, and each touched a lottery ticket.

The whole process was obviously uneventful, but Zhu Gaochi's eyelids trembled violently.

That is the invisible pressure brought by the position of prince.

They didn't draw lots, they drew lives!

Although it has gone through a series of fair and complex coefficient balances designed by Daoyan, there is one thing that cannot be changed by the North and South Zhili.

That’s the hydrological conditions!

Water, in this era, represents more convenient transportation and cheaper irrigation.

on the ground.

South Zhili is divided into two parts by the Yangtze River, with a dense river network and developed shipping.

Beizhili is severely short of water.

in the sky.

In Nanzhili, it rains for nearly half of the months of the year.

In Beizhili, it only rains during certain two or three months.

And everyone is aware of this, but they all silently keep silent about it.

Therefore, even if artificial balancing is done, hydrological conditions, a natural endowment with profound interests, cannot be balanced.

Whoever chooses Nanzhili still has advantages that may seem inconspicuous but are actually very critical.

Zhu Gaochi closed his eyes and slowly took out the lottery in his hand.

When Zhu Gaochi saw the contents of the signature, he suddenly felt relaxed all over.

But he had to hold back his smile because Zhu Gaoxu next to him was sweating.

On the other side, the youngest Zhu Gaosui also looked at the lots in their hands.

"Zhu Gaochi, South Zhili; Zhu Gaoxu, North Zhili——!"

Zhu Gaosui finished reading in a loud voice, turned around and walked back to the emperor.

Zhu Di and Dao Yan had no objections to such a fair result, chosen by the two princes themselves.

With a click, a corner of the lottery ticket in Zhu Gaoxu's hand was pinched off.

"Why am I so unlucky?!" Zhu Gaoxu thought to himself.

Zhu Gaoxu felt regretful in his heart. It would have been better if he had touched the lot from his eldest brother.

But now that things have come to this, it is obvious that there can be no change, and he can only accept this result.

Zhu Gaoxu's depression only lasted for a moment. He seemed to have thought of something, and he cheered up in an instant.

"Yes, why don't I ask Mr. Jiang, who knows everything, what should I do?"

Zhu Gaoxu was thinking in his mind. Of course he knew that with Jiang Xinghuo's vision and structure, he would never want to participate in this kind of battle for the crown prince.

Moreover, since the father planned to appoint Mr. Jiang as the Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty, he probably would not let Mr. Jiang directly intervene in the battle for the crown prince.

Otherwise, such a rule-breaker-level existence would easily throw one off balance.

However, it is definitely what Mr. Jiang wants to do to implement reforms in North and South Zhili.

So no matter what my father planned or what Mr. Jiang planned, as long as he seriously made changes based on Mr. Jiang's theory, he would definitely be able to get some guidance from Mr. Jiang.

Zhu Gaoxu certainly knew how powerful Mr. Jiang was.

That is definitely a level that is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Everything you point at is enough for ordinary people to benefit endlessly.

"And no matter what, the relationship between me and Mr. Jiang is closer. Mr. Jiang also personally promised me that he will keep me safe."

Zhu Gaojiu calmed down for a moment, but he bent down and bowed with a smile, walked towards Zhu Gaochi and said: "Brother, you and I need to work hard to help our father and the emperor to change the law!"

"Oh" Zhu Gaochi was lost for a while, and then he quickly replied, "The second brother has been away for many days, and his speech and work are very orderly, which really impresses the eldest brother."

Zhu Gaochi spoke the truth.

The original Zhu Gaoxu was a brave and reckless man who did not hesitate to go around. If Jiang Xinghuo hadn't trained him well, he would never have behaved like he did today.

The surrounding ministers also felt that the legendary second prince (who had been in prison and had hardly seen him) was indeed different from the rumored rude martial artist.

Some people have seen how domineering Zhu Gaoxu was before, such as the Minister of the Ministry of War and Zhongzhong Borujun, and only then did they understand how much Jiang Xinghuo had changed Zhu Gaoxu.

The cabinet is worth the room, not soundproofing.

Zhu Gaosuinian's voice was so loud just now. The words reached outside the room, and many people's moods suddenly fluctuated.

Just like the Yan army almost unanimously supports the second prince Zhu Gaoxu.

The young talents in the cabinet are basically inclined to support the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi. It is just a matter of more or less bias.

First of all, this news means that the distribution of the two princes to the north and the south has been settled and will be difficult to change.

The second prince, who was unlucky, had obviously a lower chance of winning the position of crown prince.

Secondly, the second prince still has a chance to give it a try, because the outcome of the "examination" given by Zhu Di this time is uncertain.

But no matter what, this was a good start after all, which also relieved some cabinet members who had staked their fortunes on the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi.

Although Xie Jin, Huang Huai, and Yang Shiqi didn't get along, they all looked at each other and smiled, as if they had reached some kind of consensus.

The moonlight outside shone on the palace city, making the magnificent palaces shine with silver light, while from inside the palace gate, the sound of the eunuch's clock could be faintly heard.

Naturally, the sound was heard in the cabinet duty room. The last important thing was finalized, and everyone relaxed a little.

The tense meeting that lasted all night made these middle-aged and elderly people somewhat mentally exhausted.

But Zhu Di seemed to have no intention of letting them stop, and spoke again.

"Oh, by the way, I still want to do something, Uncle Zhong."

"I'm here." Ru Yu raised her head and looked at the emperor.

Zhu Di rapped his knuckles on the armrest of the chair rhythmically and said.

"I plan to re-adjust and enrich Ming's northern defense line."

At this time, the northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty started from the Yalu River in the east and reached Jiayuguan in the west. This defense line, which stretched thousands of miles, passed through Liaodong, Beijing, Xuanfu, Datong, Piantou Pass, Yansui, Ningxia Town, Guyuan, Gansu, etc. It is composed of regions, which is the prototype of the Ming Dynasty Jiubian in later generations.

It is slightly different from the Nine Borders of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. That is, the Ming Dynasty at this time still had many garrison troops stationed in Monan outside the Great Wall. Daning Town in Liaodong, which had been deprived of most of its troops, had not yet been completely destroyed. Abandoned.

Well, Zhu Yuanzhang personally gave orders to his sons as King of Sai, teaching them how to let the guards build defense lines and survive in Monan for a long time. They did everything from maintaining weapons and arrows to raising cattle and sheep and milking sheep. The kind that doesn't include it.

But Zhu Yuanzhang's concerns, like many of his policies, were obviously only for the moment and not for the rest of his life.

In the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, during the Renxuan period when Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji were emperors, Ming Dynasty began to shrink comprehensively under Yang Shiqi's plan and Yang Rong's decision.

On the northern border, most of the Monan Guards were gradually abolished or moved inland, and the most important Kaiping Guards also moved inland.

On the southern border, the Jiaozhi Chief Envoy Division and the Old Port Xuanwei Division established by Zheng He during his voyages to the West were abandoned.

Zhu Di continued: "From the three guards returned by the kings, it is necessary to redeploy and prepare some new troops and horses to serve as the main force of the defense. I intend to let Xu Huizu, Ping An, Sheng Yong and other generals serve as commanders, although this is The decision is made by the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army, but Uncle Zhongzhong is still the Minister of War. I want to ask you, what do you think?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's expression changed.

Although Zhu Di said that he was talking to Ru Yu, the Minister of War, all the ministers knew that the emperor was making some kind of formal temple statement to them.

Everyone knows that if Zhu Di does this, there will probably be a big earthquake in the military world of the Ming Dynasty!

After all, the army is the foundation on which Zhu Di relies.

But this time Zhu Di took action, not to attack the Yan army system, but to use the famous generals of the Southern army who had no real power after the surrender to command the reorganized army of the three guards of the Zhusu king who were unfamiliar with the place.

Well, you can actually continue thinking about it.

What is the emperor planning to do by doing this?

Should we sincerely reuse these surrendered generals of the Southern Army, or should we take the opportunity to transfer all the prestigious and capable generals of the Southern Army to the north, and then completely integrate and eat up other troops in the non-Yan Army system?

A glimmer of light flashed in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes.