Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

After the financial conference in the second year of Yongle's reign, the military expenditure issue for the Northern Expedition was basically coordinated, and the next step was a process of non-interference in the military field and the political and economic field.

The overall center of the imperial court has not changed much, because Beijing has already established an administrative department with Guo Zi as its minister. In addition, Zhenyuan Hou Gu Cheng and Wei Guogong Xu Huizu from the army governor's office have a complete small civil and military team. It is used to run the government affairs of Beizhili and even the entire north, so there is no need to evacuate the entire court. The civil servants only need to bring some accompanying personnel.

For example, Jin Zhong, Jin Youzi, Yang Rong and others will follow him on the northern expedition.

Before leaving, Zhu Di also summoned Jiang Xinghuo.

When Zhu Gaosui, who came as a guest messenger, came to Jiang Xinghuo's house, Jiang Xinghuo and others were eating soup pot.

The reason why I eat soup pot in late spring and early summer is not for any other reason. The main reason is that Marshal Li specially loaded a box of mushrooms from the Anantuo military transport ship. It is said that it is a local specialty. It is not only good at preserving, but also tastes good. Extremely delicious.

I had planned to eat it for a long time, but after hearing that Marshal Li himself was lying on the bed, he didn't dare to eat the mushroom. Later, Jiang Xinghuo felt that throwing it away was a waste. After making sure that it would not cause hallucinations or cause death, he Get some shabu-shabu.

There is a soup pot of various mushrooms. Some people don't like mushrooms, so they eat mutton.

Mutton has become one of the most popular meats in China since the Northern Song Dynasty. The other soup pot is called the red and white soup pot. The reason for this name means that the mutton is bright red, the cabbage is refreshing, and it is served with white radish. It is tender and smooth, tastes great, and has the effect of replenishing qi and blood.

However, although it looks like an ordinary soup pot, in reality many things need to be treated separately. This is the reason why it is said that Zhumen's bones are frozen to death in the smelly road of wine and meat. For example, the soup bowl Jiang Xinghuo is holding at the moment is filled with , it looks like an ordinary bowl of soup, but it is actually a soup stock made from beef bones. There are a few chopped green onions, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu slices in it. It looks delicious, delicious, and smells very tempting.

The mushroom soup pot was made by Jiang Xuan, but naturally this thing was not made by Jiang Xuan. He was the designated chef of the old monk.

To be honest, every time he saw Uncle Mute with his hunched back and a sharp knife in his hand, cooking and cutting cattle as smoothly as water, Jiang Xinghuo felt that when he was young, this man was designated to be a dead man raised by the old monk.

As for whether it was true, Jiang Xinghuo didn't ask.

No matter how close the relationship is, some things are hard to ask. People must have some privacy.

For example, Jiang Xinghuo never cared about where Yao Guangxiao's information came from, nor how many idle pieces he had left after his intelligence network was dismantled.

Zhu Gaosui seemed to be in a good mood and did not look gloomy. Instead, he hummed a tune and strolled in with his hands behind his back.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his body, and his long face and narrow eyes looked a little warmer.

"This is?"

"Oh, we'll talk about it later, I just didn't have a meal."

Zhu Gaosui then threw the imperial edict he was holding behind his back onto the table next to him, showing no respect for his father.

"The Third Prince is here."

Jiang Xinghuo quickly handed the empty bowl to Yu Qian beside him and asked him to fill a bowl of sheep blood soup.

He stood up and faced Zhu Gaosui with a smile.

Zhu Gaosui also responded with a smile: "Long time no see, Imperial Master. How have you been lately?"

"It's okay, it's okay."

The two sat down together.

Zhu Gaosui took out a package, opened it, took out one and handed it to Jiang Xinghuo.

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and waved his hand: "Don't eat it, eating too much of this stuff will ruin your mouth."

"What the hell."

If nothing else, it was the betel nut introduced from Luzon and other places. It was originally used by sailors to refresh themselves. Later, it was discovered that there was a large audience, so it gradually became popular.

However, Jiang Xinghuo knew the dangers of betel nut, so he ordered the Municipal Shipping Department to strictly investigate the smuggling of betel nut, but did not let "Ming Pao" vigorously publicize it, because people have a rebellious mentality, and he had to try it if you didn't let him do it.

But no matter what the rare treasures in the world are, Zhu Gaosui, as the prince, can always get them.

Zhu Gaosui chewed a few mouthfuls, and probably knew that it was not good to numb himself like this, so he vomited directly into the waste basket beside the dining table, and then sighed: "Alas! We haven't seen each other for almost a month since I was arrested and sent to hard labor. ”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded slightly in agreement.

The so-called "arrested to hard labor" refers to the investigation of the case.

Ji Gang was not beheaded, so he handed over several of the captured remnants of the violent Zhao Dynasty. Since the matter was resolved by Jiang Xinghuo through the Taixue Association, Zhu Di did not bother to pursue him. Anyway, Ji Gang was quite useful.

But this matter had to be investigated, so Zhu Di handed over the task to Zhu Gaosui, who had been doing nothing all day.

Zhu Gaosui took his few men and began to run around throughout Southern Zhili.

As a result, it cannot be said that nothing was achieved, it can only be said that there was no progress.

This is also normal. I am not stupid. I had no experience in confrontation on the intelligence front at the beginning, so many of them were arrested. Now they are all like old fritters. They are all connected through one line, and the organizational structure is very strict. I want to catch these few remaining ones. There are so many Jianwen diehards out there, it’s really hard work.

"Eat first."

Jiang Xinghuo pointed to a plate of mutton on the table and greeted with a smile: "How does it taste?"

Whether it is the old monk or Jiang Xinghuo, they basically don't pay much attention to living conditions. Whether they have simple food or delicacies, there is no difference. However, at their level, they really don't have to worry about things like food, drink, clothing, and housing.

Jiang Xinghuo is a bit of a germaphobe and doesn't want his life to be too different from that of ordinary people. But what's a little helpless is that even if he takes the initiative to ask for various local specialties like the mushrooms sent by Li Jinglong, he will still give them. Received quite a few.

In the early Ming Dynasty, officials attached great importance to this kind of social atmosphere. If they really regarded themselves as saints, it would be unrealistic to have no contacts at all.

Jiang Xinghuo can only give gifts of appropriate value during holidays, but he will not accept excessively expensive holiday gifts.

You can't throw this kind of food away after you receive it, and the portion given as a gift is too small, so you can only eat it yourself.

And these muttons were sent by Zhu Gaoxu from Kaiping in winter. They were cut and frozen in ice cubes. They were also put in ice cellars when they arrived in Nanjing. They didn't taste very fresh, but they were obviously fat sheep on the grassland. , the taste is very different from the sheep raised on pastures in Huaixi.

The goat meat was cut into thin slices, poured into boiling water, and simmered slowly. In addition to the fat sheep on the grassland, a variety of condiments and side dishes were also prepared.

"Yes, I have been in Nanjing for several years, and I haven't tasted this kind of mutton for a long time."

After Zhu Gaosui finished eating, he took a sip of the aroma wafting from the soup pot, and sighed with satisfaction. He felt warm all over his body, as if he was soaking in a hot spring.

"It won't be available if you go to Luzon."

“It’ll be fine if we still have it this year.”

Jiang Xinghuo paused and then said, "I heard that you are also going to join the war."

"Yes."

Zhu Gaosui said helplessly: "After this battle, let me go to Luzon. That's what the old man said. I don't know if it's true or not."

"After this battle, there will usually be another battle."

The old monk who has been showing off his mushroom soup pot has found out the truth.

If it is useful, use it to death. After one battle, the next battle will follow. When going into battle, father and son must be the most at ease. This principle is the same as when a tomb is robbed, the son goes to the tomb and the father watches over it.

Zhu Gaosui: "."

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a few breaths, then changed the subject and asked: "I don't understand the specific matters of marching and fighting in the military, as those of you who have experienced battles for a long time, needless to say, the Qin and Jin vassals, not even holding them in hand. The difference is not big, mainly the Tatar tribe in the north, do you think they can win smoothly?"

Zhu Gaosui frowned and thought for a while: "To be honest, it's hard to say... The Tatar cavalry are fierce, good at fighting and cunning. They are much stronger than the Oara tribe and the Uliangha tribe. They basically inherited the main body of the elite of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. The old man is still going to lead the expedition in person this time. Not entirely sure.”

"And it's not a matter of being able to defeat them. The main problem is logistics. If there are hundreds of thousands or more than 200,000 people on foot and cavalry who want to fight to Mobei, the logistics line is too long and can be cut off easily. Well, even if the enemy doesn't take action and encounters some bad weather, the logistics line will be cut off. The more people there are, the more people will be blinded. Then do you think you can lead less people? No, if you lead less people, they will disappear. We must be able to severely damage the Tatar tribe."

"So, we are still afraid that the Tatar tribe will lead us in circles and avoid fighting."

"That's pretty much what it means."

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head confidently, revealing a mysterious smile.

This smile looks like a wise man with pearls of wisdom, but in fact, he has already determined that Zhu Di will win.

In the history of his previous life, several of Zhu Di's five northern expeditions were armed marches, but the first northern expedition did have great results. In the eighth year of Yongle, history records that Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, mobilized fifty With an army of ten thousand (the actual number was much smaller than this number), on May 8, the Ming army marched to the basin of the Luqu River (today's Kullen River, Zhu Di renamed it "Yinma River"), and learned through prisoners that the Tatars could Khan Benya Shili led his army to flee west to the Oara tribe, while Prime Minister Arutai fled eastward. Zhu Di personally led his soldiers to pursue Benya Shili westward. On May 13, the Ming army was defeated at the Onan River. Yasuli, then sent his troops eastward to attack Arutai. The two sides fought in the northeast of the Onan River. The Ming army killed countless enemies, and Arutai fell off his horse and fled.

The results of the first northern expedition were extremely significant. After this attack by the Ming army, the Tatar tribe surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and paid tribute to Zhu Di with horses.

But it also had a great impact on the pattern of the grassland. Arutai actually came to control the Tatar tribe and accepted the title "King of Hening" given to him by Zhu Di. At the same time, the Tatar tribe was seriously injured by the Ming Dynasty. The Oara tribe took advantage of the situation to rise, eroding and penetrating the sphere of influence that originally belonged to the Tatar tribe, and it became larger and larger day by day. It can even be said that some of the roots of the Civil War can be traced back here.

Now the time of the first Northern Expedition has been advanced by six years, which can be said to have greatly accelerated the process of history.

But in the end, Jiang Xinghuo thought there wouldn't be much change.

In terms of firearms, the Ming army was obviously much stronger than in his previous life.

With the acceleration of the Ming Army's weaponization process, the cavalry gradually began to appear a little weak in the face of fully iteratively developed firearms.

As long as you command properly and seize the opportunity keenly, victory will definitely belong to Ming Dynasty.

After dinner, Zhu Gaosui announced the order in person.

The reason why this time it was not an oral edict but a formal edict was because it also came with some rewards.

"One Jin Luo weaving garment, three baskets each of bayberry and loquat."

It can be understood that the emperor received the tribute and could not eat it or wanted to share it.

They are all seasonal fruits, and the quality is guaranteed. Jiang Xinghuo doesn't know much about the classification of these fruits, but the taste is definitely much better than what is sold on the market.

"Let's go, Master Imperial Master."

Jiang Xinghuo entered the palace with Zhu Gaosui. On the carriage, Zhu Gaosui only told him one thing.

——Zhu Di has been very restless recently.

In the square of the palace, Jiang Xinghuo met Zhu Di.

It was really restless, and the arrow targets were all pricked up like hedgehogs.

Jiang Xinghuo counted the empty quivers on the ground. Three and a half quivers were empty, and about seventy arrows were shot out.

Anyone who has ever shot an arrow knows that if a normal person shoots not to mention seventy, but twenty or thirty arrows in a row, his arms and hands will inevitably start to tremble. The draw range is sufficient.

Moreover, Zhu Di used a large bow with ox horns. Whether ordinary people could pull it open was a question.

Obviously there is no compound bow technology nowadays, so this kind of traditional bow really relies on deadlift strength.

What's even more perverted is that Zhu Di was fully clad in the Mingguang armor standard for Ming army generals, which weighed a total of forty-five kilograms including a battle skirt, arm shields and other protective gear. The soft mail that protects the ribs weighs five kilograms, the complete set of bow and quiver weighs eleven kilograms, the waist knife weighs three and a half kilograms, the thorn bones weigh three kilograms, and the upper and lower clothes total eight kilograms, totaling more than eighty kilograms.

"Your Majesty is truly a natural-born general."

This sentence is not an exaggeration. Zhu Di can really go to the battlefield fully armed and kill people for a day. If the existence of monsters like Zhu Gaoxu in terms of force and physical strength are excluded, then he is basically first-class.

In Nanjing, Zhu Di rarely showed his style as the world's number one general.

Zhu Di took off his mask, revealing a bit of unconcealable ferocity in his eyes.

"I feel very upset when I think that this little brat Jianwen hasn't been found today."

Obviously, deep down in his heart, Zhu Di was a little uneasy about the fact that he was about to leave Nanjing and the whereabouts of Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen was still unknown.

He was worried that after he left, Emperor Jianwen would pop up from nowhere and affect his rule.

Although this kind of thing can be immediately dispatched to exterminate troops, and claims that the other party is a false emperor and that Emperor Jianwen has died long ago, this kind of thing can only be deceived by others, but you should not really believe it yourself.

In short, the fact that Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts was unknown was like a thorn in the flesh next to his fingernail in Zhu Di's heart. It didn't have much impact, but it was very disgusting.

"Come and try?"

Zhu Di put the bow into Jiang Xinghuo's hand.

Jiang Xinghuo tried it, but couldn't figure out how many pounds or kilograms it was, but it was very difficult.

Jiang Xinghuo does not lack exercise, and his physique is considered to be that of a standard adult man with a balanced nutritional intake, but this bow can only be stretched more than half way to its limit.

"call out!"

The arrow flew out and hit the target in fifty steps.

"The national master's shooting skills are good."

For civil servants, being able to draw such a heavy bow and hit the target at a distance of fifty paces, although not hitting the bullseye, is already a very high level.

Because without a long period of training, it is a question whether you can hit the target stably in twenty steps with an ordinary bow.

Obviously, Jiang Xinghuo's martial arts level may not be good enough in the ranks of military commanders, but in the ranks of civilian officials, it is outstanding.

"The Six Arts of a Gentleman are only for fun once in a while, but they are just for physical fitness, and they are not comparable to His Majesty."

Zhu Di took the bow and shot a few more arrows. While shooting, he kept talking.

"Master, you don't know, this little brat Jianwen made me eat pig shit in a pig pen for several years, and made me wear a big quilt in the busy city of Peking in the summer and pretend to be crazy. I just endured it and conquered the world. .”

Jiang Xinghuo chanted casually: "In ten years of luck, the dragon has been trapped in the well, and once he has gained power, he will become a king."

Zhu Di was startled when he heard this, but his restlessness calmed down a lot.

Indeed, Chinese history and culture often believe that people who can achieve great things must go through the most severe sufferings and endure what ordinary people cannot endure before they can achieve great things.

"Anyway."

Zhu Di handed the bow to the eunuch beside him and said to Jiang Xinghuo: "In the future, during my absence in Nanjing, I have sent someone to report to Hu Hui. If there is any news about Jianwen, I will report it directly to you, the Imperial Master."

"The boss is so soft-hearted that he cannot do such a thing. How to deal with it at that time will be left to the national division. If there is an incident, troops will be sent to exterminate it. Public opinion will not show it. If there is a lonely person, his head will be cut off and given to me. .”

"good."

Isn't it just dirty work? It would be the same if it were an old monk.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhu Di.

In the history of his previous life, Zhu Di, the founder of Ming Dynasty, had five cold characters.

As one of the most ruthless people in the entire 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty, his name not only represents unparalleled martial arts, but also represents forbearance.

Not only was Zhu Di able to replicate Li Su's military miracle of entering Caizhou on a snowy night when he was marching and fighting, he was able to hold back even after marching in a heavy snowy weather, surrounded and persuaded the Beiyuan tribe to surrender, and when he was accumulating strength, he was able to pretend to be crazy all year round and act like a fool. Running around, eating pig shit, these methods are used to every possible means, just to buy time for themselves to raise troops.

Frankly speaking, after more than two years of getting along with each other, Jiang Xinghuo knew very well that Zhu Di was more than just a ruthless hero, an iron-blooded general, and a powerful emperor.

Zhu Di is also a "person".

Like his father Zhu Yuanzhang, as the emperor who conquered the country by himself, the father and son rarely used deepness to cover themselves up. Under normal circumstances, they would show their emotions. This is a manifestation of their absolute confidence in controlling the situation. To put it bluntly, Just like people rarely hide their emotions towards their pets.

Zhu Di, who is blessed with absolute power, will also show emotions such as today's restlessness and hatred in front of Jiang Xinghuo, but this does not mean that Zhu Di is a person who is easy to be manipulated by others.

In fact, no matter what, Zhu Di's character that combines ruthlessness, bloodlust and a little bit of pettiness determines that he will never sit back and watch the country he has worked so hard to build fall.

Moreover, Zhu Di was very ambitious. He wanted to achieve eternal hegemony that even Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty could not achieve.

Zhu Di believed that only by becoming emperor could the Ming Dynasty become the most powerful existence in the world, and only by the unparalleled achievements of "ruling the Tang, Song, and far reaching the Han and Tang dynasties" could Zhu Di feel at ease. He went underground and told Zhu Yuanzhang that this throne was what he deserved. Sit by yourself.

Although Zhu Di has been on the throne for several years and has become the king of a country from the king of Yan, he still has not stopped this dream and has become more and more firm in his belief.

"National Master, in addition to Jianwen's matters, I have one more important thing to entrust to you before I leave."

Zhu Di's face looked a little solemn, and he said to Jiang Xinghuo.

There are many people Zhu Di trusts. Among these people, Jiang Xinghuo is not the person he is most close to. But there is no doubt that when it comes to troublesome things, the first person Zhu Di is willing to believe is the man he has returned from prison. The national teacher invited from here.

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Before, you said that you wanted to clean up the illegal properties of nobles and powerful people. I plan to use your kindness."