After inspecting the entire military camp, Zhu Youxiao returned to his tent with satisfaction. After two months of intensive training, this tactical reform has almost taken shape. The two armies have been training since last year. I was very familiar with the old-fashioned tactics before, but now I just changed them.

After returning to the main account, Zhu Youxiao began to deal with official affairs. Although there was a cabinet chief in the country, he did not need to care about it all the time, but he must control the affairs of the inner government and the governor's house. If the expedition is very long, It would be fine if it was far away, but now we are only in Liaodong, and we only have three days of riding, so of course we have to pay attention to everything.

Sun Chengzong's actions at various border guard stations, Shen Yourong's fleet going south, as well as feedback and revision opinions on the use of four ship types, the progress of land reform in Hebei, the establishment of provincial yamen all over the world, the issuance of the Imperial Daily, and the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty Gradually, the Spaniards came to Shanghai port to trade.

Waiting for everything, all the major things happening in the world are presented in front of him for him to read.

However, before Zhu Youxiao could wait for a long time, an orderly came to report that Wang Wenyan and Wei Zhongxian wanted to see him. After Zhu Youxiao checked, the two men appeared in front of him soon.

"Kowtow to my emperor, long live my emperor! Long live my emperor!" they chanted in unison, shouting with overwhelming momentum. After bowing respectfully, and receiving permission, the two stood up.

"How is the establishment of the wool textile factory going?" Zhu Youxiao asked first.

"Everything has been arranged. Wool purchasing points have been set up in the cities that are gradually being established, and then they are shipped to Shaanxi for weaving. This is the finished product so far." Wang Wenyan took out three pieces of wool cloth and said, "This is Coarse wool, fine wool and fine wool cloth.”

"Very good, very good." Touching three pieces of fine and rough woolen cloth, Zhu Youxiao was very happy. It is used for food, clothing, housing and transportation, and clothing is at the forefront, so the birth of any kind of cloth is a big event. More importantly, from then on, there was an indispensable raw material in the Central Plains on the grassland. This way of coming and going is the way to go in the long run.

"Thank you for the compliment!" Wang Wenyan lowered his eyebrows and smiled. Taking advantage of the emperor's happiness, he began to tell one by one about the recent development of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, especially the development of Tiangong Company.

Under the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, most of them are production factories. They ship goods to channel dealers from various places - gentry or merchants. Only Tiangong Company is different. It is a pure channel dealer. Zhu Youxiao, who came from a later generation, knows that the real The most powerful ones are channel dealers. Maybe at this time when supplies are not plentiful, manufacturers are more powerful. But before long, under the stimulation of strong profits, manufacturers will definitely explode. By then, channels will be the king. era.

Because of the emperor's attention, Wang Wenyan also attached great importance to it. He put a lot of energy into the development of Tiangong Trading Company. Now, after nearly two years of rapid expansion, basically every prefecture and county has at least one Tiangong Trading Company. The warehouse specializes in all kinds of groceries and is very large in scale.

Along with the development, there is a huge transportation team, land, river, sea transportation, direct or indirect control of resources, very rich.

Even in Liaodong and among the small tribes outside the customs, Tiangong trading companies have begun to appear. They sell various goods and then exchange them for precious furs, medicinal materials, gold and silver, etc., and the profits are very generous.

Listening to this, Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied. It was true that he had injected so much money into the inner government. Today's inner government has only a trace of the great chaebols of later generations. As long as he holds this money bag, then the children and grandchildren of later generations will

Basically there is no need to worry.

After talking for more than half an hour, Wang Wenyan finally talked about all kinds of things. Apart from giving Zhu Youxiao an intuitive idea of ​​his money income, he also boasted about himself.

After Wang Wenyan, there was Wei Zhongxian. The first words of this old eunuch made Zhu Youxiao stunned.

"Your Majesty, traces of Horqin and Jurchen have been found." Wei Zhongxian said solemnly, then took out a map and began to point it out to Zhu Youxiao.

After carefully looking at the simple map drawn by the intelligence personnel, Zhu Youxiao had a rough idea. Looking at the distances that seemed far away on the map, Zhu Youxiao smacked his lips and said distressed for the other party, "This is running.

It’s really far away!”

In addition to the mapped location, Dongchang's intelligence officers brought back some general information. Huang Taiji was very powerful. Under such circumstances, he still relied on his own resourcefulness and charm to conquer Horqin and make the other party completely

All the tribes came over, and the two tribes merged into one and moved further north.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao could guess all the bloodshed, conspiracy and betrayal here without even looking at it. He didn’t know how many upper-class nobles Horqin had died before he was finally annexed by Huang Taiji. But this is all in the past. The final

As a result, they came to the banks of the Heilongjiang River with almost half a million people and huge livestock.

The gradually civilizing frozen soil and rapidly growing trees have covered up the traces of large-scale population migration, so Zhu Youxiao has never been able to find traces of the other party. However, Dongchang is indeed a Dongchang, and its ability to penetrate everything is simply unparalleled.

Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the East Factory, regardless of the dangers, personally led his people to fight on the front line. After nearly two months of searching day and night, he finally got the information about Huang Taiji from the mouths of countless small tribes in the white mountains and black waters. After secret exploration,

Basically the specific address can be determined.

At present, Huang Taiji and his people are temporarily living in the Qiqihar area of ​​​​the later generations to recuperate. This place is thousands of miles away from Zhenbeiguan, so it is no wonder that Zhu Youxiao's troops cannot search for them.

"Don't worry about them for the time being. Once they regain some strength, we can send troops to drive them north." Zhu Youxiao thought for a while and decided to let them go first.

After all, Huang Taiji now has a population of 500,000, which has played a significant role in pioneering the remote areas of the Northeast. Moreover, over there, after crossing the Greater Khingan Mountains, is the Hulunbuir Grassland, where there are many Mongolian tribes.

There are at least two to three hundred thousand people living there. With Huang Taiji's character, he will never let them go. He will wait until they gather together before sending out troops.

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to kill all the Jurchens at this time. He just wanted to keep driving them away and let them keep running north. When they couldn't run north, they would run west, preferably from Siberia, all the way.

Best to go to Russia.

Wei Zhongxian was aware of the emperor's idea, but he did not know why the emperor wanted to do this, but this did not prevent him from working hard in this regard.

Seeing that His Majesty was concerned, he said with a smile, "Your Majesty, we have also contacted a Han Chinese at the Jurchen place, and the other party said that he is willing to give us support within the party. If Your Majesty wants Huang Taiji to continue to the north, or even to the west, this

People should be able to make a big difference.”

"Oh, who is it?" Zhu Youxiao asked with great interest.

"……."

Wei Zhongxian whispered his name, but Zhu Youxiao was shocked. Thinking of what this man had done in history, and his desire to surrender at this time, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but reveal a smile of unknown meaning.

.

Zhu Youxiao still knew something about Huang Taiji. It was under his hands that the Jurchens truly flourished, developing from a tribe to a country. He paid special attention to the use of Han people. Under his hands, a large number of traitors emerged.

.Presumably at this time, this person still had quite a following under Huang Taiji.

"This chess piece must be grasped carefully. You can promise him that as long as he does things according to our requirements, I can allow him to return to the country after the work is completed and let bygones be bygones."

"Yes." Wei Zhongxian accepted the order, "With your Majesty's words, I know what to do. I will definitely let him guide the Jurchens all the way to the west."

"That's it, Aiqing, thank you for your trouble." Zhu Youxiao was relieved when the traces of the Jurchens were found. Once this tribe was gone, other small tribes scattered among the white mountains and black waters would not be able to rely on.

Most of those tribes lived a primitive life of eating hair and drinking blood. The most advanced ones were just like the wild Jurchens. They relied on primitive means of fishing, hunting and grazing, and had not even developed farming. How could they be opponents of the advanced culture of the Ming Dynasty.

The Northeast Plain is really vast, and hidden under layers of mountains and trees is fertile black soil. Nowadays, the emergence of woolen cloth and the large-scale application of cotton cloth have given Ming Dynasty the conditions to cultivate in the Northeast.

Such a large chassis is enough to accommodate a population of several million.

Not to mention the countless giant trees in the deep mountains and old forests, which are necessary materials for building warships. Although he is now developing steel keels, for warships, heavy steel will reduce the carrying capacity of the warship, which is not the right way for large-scale transportation.

It's okay for use on ships, but if it's used on battleships, it will be unimaginably heavy.

Seeing that the emperor was lost in thought again, Wang Wenyan winked, and Wei Zhongxian suddenly understood. The two of them bowed slightly, and then quietly retreated out.

Coincidentally, after they came out, they happened to meet the orderly who was about to go in to report the news. Wei Zhongxian stretched out his hand and said, "Your Majesty is deep in thought. It is not an important news, so I will report it later."

After saying that, he didn't care about anything else and drifted away. Wang Wenyan also disappeared shortly after. The two of them had a lot of things to do and there was no extra time to waste here.

On the spot, only the orderly with a troubled look on his face was left, standing on the spot, wondering in a daze whether it was an important matter for the North Korean envoy to see His Majesty, or not.

After being depressed for a long time, he didn't know whether he should go in and report. Fortunately, he didn't wait long before Zhu Youxiao woke up from his thoughts.

As soon as he saw the empty tent, he knew that he was distracted again, and Wei Zhongxian and Wang Wenyan should have left at this time. Zhu Youxiao smiled and didn't take it seriously. The departure of the two people was what he had done before.

After all, he didn't know why he was distracted. If the other party had something to do, wouldn't it waste time?

Therefore, he once ordered that if he saw him meditating, those who had nothing to do would retreat on their own. If there was something to report, they would interrupt him or wait in place. However, there were some who retreated and some who waited, but there were never those who interrupted, even if it was

Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi never interrupted Zhu Youxiao's meditation.

"Come in." Seeing someone waiting outside, Zhu Youxiao said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The orderly responded and came in to report, "Your Majesty, the North Korean envoy is here to see you."

"North Korean envoy?" Zhu Youxiao was stunned by this unfamiliar name. After a while, he realized that it should be the group that came to pay tribute during the Winter Solstice last year. "I didn't expect that they haven't gone back yet!"

Zhu Youxiao muttered secretly.

After the winter solstice court meeting last year, the Japanese envoys, or to be precise, the Satsuma Domain envoys went back shortly after the meeting. After all, they were not a serious group, they just represented a local daimyo, and they had no suspicion.

I have so much hope, I just hope that this kind of complaint can restrain the three kings of the East China Sea who are now famous.

After all, the drastic changes in the Ming Dynasty cannot be deeply felt by those who stay in this country. Even foreign friends like Tang Ruowang will not be able to feel the general trend of change if they do not go deep into the officialdom and the people.

, not to mention Japan, which is thousands of miles away.

In the eyes of Japan today, although the Ming Dynasty is still very powerful, it is only on land. On the sea, the power of the Satsuma clan may be even stronger. Even the Satsuma clan cannot deal with the three kings of the East China Sea, let alone the Ming Dynasty.

Unlike the envoys from the Satsuma Domain, the envoys from North Korea never went back. Instead, they stayed at the Huitongkan, waiting for Emperor Ming's response. Of course, it also makes sense from another perspective. They are actually already in North Korea.

Without a foothold, they came to the Ming Dynasty for political asylum, and at the same time they also hoped that the Ming Dynasty could help them restore their country.

At this time, Gwanghaegun was still in power. He became the crown prince during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion and inherited the throne. However, he was recognized by the Ming Dynasty late, so the throne has been unstable. In history, in the third year of the Apocalypse,

Now Lee Joo of the North Korean mission will launch a coup, oust King Gwanghae from power, and ascend the throne himself.

Because he was deposed, Gwanghaejun did not have a temple name or a posthumous title, and North Korea used the Ming Dynasty's era name, so in the end he only got the title of Gwanghaejun.

However, there is a huge difference in this history. Although Lord Gwanghae has always pursued a neutral foreign policy of not betraying the Ming Dynasty and not being angry with the Jin Dynasty. However, this two-faced strategy cannot save North Korea, and the Jurchens have been severely punished.

After suffering heavy losses, Huang Taiji led his army to invade North Korea, plundering 300,000 people and a large amount of supplies to make up for his losses.

Moreover, he also forced Lord Guanghai to sign a city alliance and became a subordinate country of Jurchen. Since Lord Guanghai was also a bachelor, he simply took this opportunity to eradicate his dissidents and massacre his family members who threatened his throne.

His idea is very simple. Now that the Jurchens are powerful, I surrender. After the Ming Dynasty drives away the Jurchens, I will kill almost all the people on my side. Those who are qualified to inherit the throne are dead. The Ming Dynasty can't do it without me. It's his abacus

He thought about it with a bang, but his actions went wrong, allowing Li Zhu to run away with his men.

So there was a scene where the North Korean envoys cried to Ming Dynasty at the court meeting.

Zhu Youxiao was quite interested at that time, but he soon forgot about this small country. Now he was stationed outside Beiguan in this town, and he didn't even think about going there to help Li Zhu recover his country.

However, Li Zhu and others who stayed in the capital were in agony. They saw that the Ming Dynasty was so powerful that it abandoned its old enemy Mongolia. Half of the Mongolian grassland was occupied by the Ming Dynasty. They were really envious. Waiting.

Knowing that Emperor Ming was staying in Liaodong, they hoped day and night that the emperor would remember them and help restore the country.

It's just that they waited and waited and never got the news they wanted. The emperor seemed to have forgotten them, which was actually the case, but Zhu Youxiao had forgotten them.

Finally, in desperation, they had to run to Zhenbeiguan, came to the army, and asked to see Zhu Youxiao.

Li Zhu knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. How loyal he and others were to the Ming Dynasty and how much they admired the country. If His Majesty the Great Emperor can help restore the country, he will pay tribute to him every year. He dare not violate it and so on.

Looking at Li Zhu who was crying with tears all over his face, Zhu Youxiao then remembered that last year Huang Taiji seemed to have invaded North Korea, and then signed some kind of credentials and snatched his younger brother away.

Listening to Li Zhu's ramble about how Lord Guanghai, who is now in power, is not good at all, and how he is both obedient and submissive. Even when Wanli asked him to send troops, he was reluctant and resentful, and so on.
To be continued...