Chapter 1150 Without force, whats the use of asking for money?
Hearing Han Du's words, Zhu Biao couldn't help but turn his head and look at him curiously, and asked tentatively: "Do you think it was wrong for the former Song Dynasty to emphasize culture over military affairs?"
Han Du smiled and did not answer Zhu Biao's question directly. Instead, he said: "Then your Highness thinks that a child carrying gold bricks is causing trouble. Is there anything wrong with this?"
"Well, if a child makes trouble with gold bricks, it will inevitably arouse the covetousness of others. Of course it is inappropriate." Zhu Biao already had a clear understanding of Han Du's meaning, but he still said it truthfully.
Han Du nodded slightly, "In the former Song Dynasty, commerce was very prosperous, and the annual income from sea trade alone exceeded 140 million guan, which can be said to be a treasure trove of gold and silver. The Ming Dynasty's current annual taxes are not even 30 million guan, and even other people's
Not even a cent."
A trace of guilt flashed across Zhu Biao's face. He didn't know whether it was because the Ming Dynasty's financial resources were not as good as those of the previous Song Dynasty, or because the people's lives were not as good as those of the previous Song Dynasty.
"However, the former Song Dynasty was so rich in money, but it was too weak in terms of force. The lack of sufficient force directly led to the weakness of the former Song Dynasty in foreign campaigns. Not to mention a powerful country like the former Yuan Dynasty, even Xixia, which was relatively peaceful,
They were able to push Qian Song to the ground and rub him."
"Certaining land, indemnity, marriage, and annual coins are just a shameful thing spinning around in circles. People in the world live without dignity at all. What's the use of being so rich?"
Han Du's eyes were blurred, as if he had returned to the Song Dynasty more than a hundred years ago, and his tone was cold and stern, full of weakness and hatred for the Song Dynasty.
Seeing Zhu Biao bowing his head in deep thought, Han Du continued: "Although our Ming Dynasty is still far behind the former Song Dynasty in terms of taxation, the Ming Dynasty is full of martial virtue and has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Whether it is the repeated clearing of the grassland or the
In all previous wars, we have always won a complete victory."
"They are all Mongolian people. In the former Song Dynasty, they were beaten into disgrace and fled, and in the end they were even destroyed. It was a shame for China for five thousand years. But the Ming Dynasty was able to conquer many times with poor soldiers.
Beiyuan even destroyed their imperial court. After such a comparison, does your Highness feel much clearer?"
Zhu Biao smiled clearly, and a sense of pride and ambition arose spontaneously. In the past two years, as the Ming Dynasty's national power grew stronger, it was relatively easy to conquer the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. The first few years after the founding of the country were the most difficult.
On the one hand, Meng Yuan, who had just been driven back to the grassland, was very unwilling to accept it. He could not forget the colorful world of the Central Plains and would disturb the border many times a year.
On the other hand, at that time, the Ming Dynasty had just ended its internal war, the world was in a mess, and everything was in ruins, and it could be said that it was extremely poor. Even so, it still had to invest a lot of money into the army every year.
As Han Du said, "poor soldiers" are absolutely right.
Why did the emperor personally reclaim land in the imperial garden to grow food? Is it because he was too poor and could hardly afford to eat, so he wanted to supplement it a little.
Life has gotten better in the past two years, and Zhu Biao has never heard of Lao Zhu farming anymore.
Zhu Biao sighed and turned his attention to Kaifeng City in front of him.
"At first, my father planned to seal the fifth brother in Kaifeng, but the fifth brother refused. In the end, he did not even ask for a kingdom, and stayed in the capital to study his Qihuang art."
"Your Highness, you can't figure out why His Highness, King Zhou, ignored the good feudal state and instead studied medical skills?" Han Du answered with a smile.
"Yes." Zhu Biao sighed and nodded.
Hearing this, Han Du turned to look at Kaifeng City and said, "Well, how should I put it? Maybe everyone has their own ambitions. In His Highness's opinion, the vassal is the best. But in His Highness King Zhou's opinion, this is not the case. Maybe
He thought it would be better to have medical books to read and diseases to study."
Seeing that Zhu Biao didn't want to go into details, Han Du said with a smile: "Besides, Kaifeng is not a good place."
"Why do you say that?" Zhu Biao raised his eyes and looked at Han Du.
Han Du pointed at the Yellow River adjacent to Kaifeng City, "Your Highness, please see, the bottom of the Yellow River is higher than that of Kaifeng City. In the former Song Dynasty, it often flooded and changed its course. At that time, the former Song Dynasty used this place as the capital, and in the Yellow River
Under the threat of others, they had long wanted to move elsewhere. Of course, in the end it did not happen due to various reasons."
"However, it can be seen that this is indeed not a place where people can live and work in peace and contentment. The risks of living here are really too great."
You don’t want King Zhou to live here, do you?”
As the eldest son, Zhu Biao has always been very protective of his younger brothers. Naturally, he would not have the intention of putting the King of Zhou in this dangerous place. Now it seems that the fifth brother had no choice to seize Kaifeng, but instead
That's a good thing.
After stopping for a while in Kaifeng, Zhu Biao and his party set off again, passing through Luoyang and heading towards Xi'an.
Xi'an was once a fiefdom of Zhu Xi, but after his extortionate expropriation came to light, Lao Zhu ordered him to be recalled to the capital. Later, he simply left Fan Annan and never returned here again.
Originally, after seeing the prosperity of Henan, Zhu Biao thought that Xi'an, which is famous for being surrounded by the 800-mile Qinchuan River, should be no worse than Henan.
But along the way, Zhu Biao saw everything was in ruins. The people did not have the vigor and vitality of the people in Henan, and even the roads were repaired in a perfunctory manner.
Zhu Biao looked at his feet. It was indeed a cement road, but it was covered with mud.
It's fine that the weather is sunny today, but at most it's just dusty along the way. But if it rains, won't it be as muddy as before? So what's the difference between whether the cement road is repaired or not?
Most of the people were unkempt and ragged. All the way to Xi'an, Zhu Biao felt that this was very similar to the situation of the people in his impression, not as prosperous as Henan, which was unbelievable.
Moreover, the city of Xi'an is completely different from what Zhu Biao imagined. Xi'an started from the Zhou Dynasty and continued from the Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, etc., with a total of thirteen dynasties having their capitals in Xi'an.
"The land of true dragons through the ages, the capital of emperors for hundreds of generations."
But what Zhu Biao sees now in Xi'an is a dilapidated scene. The city of Chang'an, once visited by thousands of nations and surrounded by eight rivers, has experienced the wars of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. The palaces have long since been reduced to ashes, and the entire city is nothing but ruins.
Except, nothing is left.
Even though Zhu Xi was the vassal here, the Ming Dynasty also repaired Xi'an City a lot, otherwise it really wouldn't even have a decent appearance.
But since Zhu Xi left, the imperial court stopped all construction work here. Even the former Qin Palace was empty and completely deserted.
"Is Your Highness disappointed?" Han Duce immediately stepped forward and came to Zhu Biao's side and asked.
Zhu Biao glanced sideways at Han Du and sighed, "That's right~ I never thought that Chang'an City, which was once the most beautiful city in the world, would become what it is now."
Han Du stood on a high place and looked down at the city of Xi'an standing on the plain, and sighed: "The four passes guarded the city, the floating Wei and Jing were occupied, the golden city was thousands of miles away, and the land of abundance was in the past. The Guanzhong once occupied the Han Valley.
Guantian is dangerous, with the fertile fields of Longshu thousands of miles away, the wealth of Bashu in the south, and the convenience of Hu people's livestock in the north. It can be defended on three sides and contain the princes to the east. As long as the Wei River is used to transport the capital, when there is a change in the east, it can be followed
It flows down. As the saying goes, a golden city thousands of miles away is a land of abundance."
"Then why is it like this now?" Zhu Biao was very puzzled and looked sideways at Han Du with a puzzled face.
Han Du smiled and said, "It's normal to go through a lot of changes."
"Normal? This place used to be so prosperous, but now it has become like this. How is this normal?" Zhu Biao couldn't help but raise his voice and asked Han Du with some sharpness.
Han Du breathed a sigh of relief and said patiently: "I wonder if His Highness noticed something?"
Zhu Biao raised his eyebrows, "What's the matter?"
"On our way here, I found that the land here is a little white." Han Du continued: "The color of the soil actually indicates that the land is very barren. Logically speaking, Guanzhong is a thousand miles of fertile wilderness, and the land should not be
This is the way it is."
"Do you know why it happened like this?" Seeing Han Du's confident look, Zhu Biao guessed that he knew the reason.
Han Du nodded, "Everyone
Everyone knows that fertilizer is needed to grow crops, otherwise the crops will not grow well. But no one knows that even if fertilizer is applied, this amount of fertilizer alone is not enough to support the growth of crops. Every year, crops will remove nutrients from the land.
Even though it's not much, even if it takes away some of it, year after year, no matter how fertile the land is, it won't be able to bear it."
"The land in Guanzhong has supported the people for more than a thousand years. Isn't it natural that it should turn from fertile to barren?"
"So that's it." Zhu Biao nodded slowly.
Han Du continued: "The land is barren, and the rainfall in Guanzhong has gradually decreased over the years. The eight rivers that once surrounded Chang'an have disappeared. How can people live in a place without water?"
There is another sentence that Han Du did not say. Zhu Ping exacted excessive taxes and levies in Xi'an. Although Lao Zhu later issued an order to compensate him, it was only a drop in the bucket.
"Then Xi'an can only continue to suffer the decline of people's livelihood like this. Is there no other way?" Zhu Biao couldn't help but sigh.
Han Du shook his head, "Usually there is no good solution, but now the people here have begun to grow potatoes, at least food and clothing are not a problem. As for the rest, we can only look at it later. If we can find a few here
Large coal mines, or other valuable things, will take off."
Zhu Biao didn't say a word after hearing this. He picked up the reins and spurred the horse to walk a few steps quickly. .??.
After passing Xi'an, Zhu Biao led everyone directly north to Taiyuan, Shanxi.
Taiyuan is the fiefdom of Jin King Zhu Fan. Zhu Biao's trip was clearly to inspect the world on behalf of Lao Zhu, but he only went to Henan and Shaanxi. Even if you include Shanxi, which he is about to go to, there are only three places.
.
Compared with the statement that Zhu Biao was patrolling the world on behalf of Lao Zhu, Han Du now seems that Zhu Biao's actions are more like patrolling his vassal kings and brothers. However, this does not make sense. After all, there are no vassals in Kaifeng, Henan and Xi'an, Shaanxi. Why did Zhu Biao
Is the mark gone too?
Although Han Du was confused in his heart, he did not show it at all on his face and followed Zhu Biao as if he was unaware.
Anyway, no matter where Zhu Biao said he wanted to go, Han Du had no objection, and he just followed his lead.
Although the Ming Dynasty set up nine important towns to defend against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, the most important defensive line in the entire north was led by King Zhu Fan of Jin and King Zhu Di of Yan. Both of them had more than 100,000 soldiers under their command.
Moreover, Zhu Fan also had Feng Sheng and Fu Youde under his command.
Of course, Zhu Di now also has Lan Yu leading troops to assist him. However, given the relationship between Zhu Di and Lan Yu, I really don't know if Lan Yu, leading troops stationed in Yandi, will assist Zhu Di more or monitor him more.
Han Du followed Zhu Biao into Taiyuan and immediately felt a completely different atmosphere from other places. If Henan gives people the impression of being extremely prosperous, while Xi'an gives people the feeling of being desolate. Then the feeling of Taiyuan for Han Du is
Nervous, with an aura that a storm is about to come.
Not long after Zhu Biao entered the territory of Taiyuan, a group of cavalry galloped past on the official road in the distance. The leading centurion rode up to the front, reined in the horse's hooves, and shouted loudly: "Who is coming? Tell me your name."
Come!"
After all, Taiyuan must always be on guard against the Mongolian people on the grassland. Although Zhu Biao and his party were under the banner of the Ming Army, tens of thousands of people entered Taiyuan after all, and it was inevitable to be interrogated.
Han Du picked up the reins, spurred his horse forward, raised his finger and cursed angrily: "You are blind, I am the Marquis of Zhenhai, Han Du. This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince patrolling Taiyuan according to the Emperor's order. Why don't you hurry up and get through?"
Report to King Jin to come and greet you?"
Han Du suddenly waved his hand and asked someone to knock out Zhu Biao's flag. Then he took off his waist badge and threw it towards the centurion.
The centurion took the badge and checked it, but found no problem. In addition, after seeing the flag sign indicating that the Crown Prince was traveling and hunting on behalf of the sky, he no longer had any doubts in his mind.
As for him personally coming forward to verify the identity of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, if he wanted to verify it, it would be the King of Jin who came to verify it in person, and he did not have the qualifications yet.
The centurion dismounted, walked a few steps quickly to get under the head of Han Du's horse, clasped his fists and bowed in the direction of Zhu Biao: "General, I will pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince.
Haihou."
Then he returned the token to Han Du and said, "Please keep it, Lord Marquis, and I will go back and report to the Lord."
Han Du reached out his hand to take the token with a calm expression and hung it on his waist again.
Seeing this, the centurion took two steps back, turned around and ran back to ride on his horse. "The others stay, Lao Xu and Xiao Luo will go back with us to report to the prince."
Of course, the people left behind by the centurion were to follow Han Du and others for surveillance. After all, the authenticity of Han Du and others' identities has not yet been completely determined. Some precautions are also very necessary. If Han Du and others really have
As for the question, as long as a group of cavalry is not surrounded by others, how can a few of them escape and go back to report the news.
Han Du ignored the remaining cavalry and followed Zhu Biao toward Taiyuan.
Along the way, more and more cavalry under the command of the King of Jin followed, and in the end there were nearly a thousand cavalry.
These cavalrymen kept a distance from Han Du and others, just following them at a close distance.
Han Du didn't care about these cavalry. Anyway, he marched when he marched and camped when he camped, completely treating them as transparent.
These cavalrymen were also careful not to get close, and just followed.
Until noon the next day, when Han Du was walking next to Zhu Biao, bursts of dull sounds seemed to come from underground. Han Du, who had seen the charge of the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry, immediately knew that this was only possible if a large group of cavalry were galloping.
The noise it made.
He raised his head and looked ahead, and at a glance he saw a huge "Jin" character on a flag, swaying in the wind.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Jin is here." Han Du looked happy and raised his hand to point Zhu Biao over.
Zhu Biao nodded with a smile, "I saw it."
Then he raised his left hand and made an action that stopped everyone. Zhu Biao said, "Just wait here for your third brother."
As King Jin got closer and closer, Han Du could clearly see that the galloping speed of the cavalry gradually slowed down, and even the roar began to fade away.
The cavalry brought by King Jin stopped twenty feet away. When Zhu Fan saw Zhu Biao, who was wearing a bright yellow python robe, his face instantly showed a look of joy, and he quickly rode forward and came to Zhu Biao.
When he got off his horse, he knelt down and bowed to Zhu Biao, "My brother pays homage to your royal brother."
Zhu Biao also laughed happily and got off his horse. He quickly stepped forward to help Zhu Fan up. He laughed and said, "Third brother, we are all brothers, why are we so polite?"
Han Du also followed Zhu Biao and dismounted, stepped forward and bowed his hands: "Your Majesty, Han Du, pays homage to His Highness the King of Jin."
Zhu Fan turned his gaze and nodded towards Han Du.
Then he turned around with surprise on his face, hugged Zhu Biao with all his strength, and said excitedly: "Brother, you are fine, how are you lately?"
Zhu Fan and Zhu Biao were apprenticed to the great scholar Song Lian together. The relationship between him and Zhu Biao was not only brothers, but also classmates. Naturally, Zhu Fan had an unusual relationship. Although Zhu Fan was a prince who was born with a golden key in his mouth, he not only had extraordinary appearance and handsome features.
, he is handsome, intelligent, and dignified, and he is also a versatile man in both civil and military affairs.
But despite Zhu Fan's handsome appearance, he has a very tough character. Zhu Di has always regarded himself as a brave man, but when he faced Zhu Fan, he could only be crushed.
There was such an incident. A thousand households under Zhu Fan actually occupied Zhu Di's orchard in Damingchuan. The incident may not be big, but the impact of this incident is not small at all.
How could a mere Qianhu have the courage to seize the prince’s orchard? Moreover, it was King Yan who was famous for his bravery. Obviously, the reason why this Qianhu had such courage was because he knew the people behind him. King Jin is not afraid of King Yan at all. With King Jin supporting him behind his back, what can he not dare to rob?
The weirdest thing is not just this, but Zhu Di's way of handling this matter.
After all, Zhu Di is a prince, and the opponent is just a small Qianhu under Zhu Fan. Even if Zhu Di is not Zhu Fan's opponent and is unwilling to confront Zhu Fan head-on, he can at least rush forward and catch this Qianhu and give him a good beating. No problem, right?