Chapter 310: That Place Is Not Suitable for Farming

Wang Chonggu finished supervising the execution and went up to the city gate tower to report to His Majesty. This matter finally ended. And Wang Chonggu looked at the people cleaning up under the city gate and breathed a long sigh of relief. Up to this point, his own life, his children's and grandchildren's lives, and the lives of his nine clans could be considered truly saved.

He carried the imperial order to kill the entire Kong Fu. In the future, when discussing sinners, he and Ji Gang were the same kind of sycophants and treacherous officials.

He did not regret it. He did not regret killing the entire Kong Fu. Even if his grave was full of garbage in the future, he would not regret it. For the disgusting things the Kong Fu did, they deserved to die. Even Xu Jie's Huishan Hall became somewhat "benevolent." After all, Xu Jie really let those children who could grow up grow up.

Today, Wang Chonggu, a remnant of the old era, finally boarded the Emperor's ship. This "letter of intent" finally landed, and the heart that was mentioned to the throat finally fell to the ground.

This was Wang Chonggu's own "letter of intent." In fact, Zhu Yijun himself thought that he received Wang Chonggu's "letter of intent" when Wang Chonggu gambled on the Great Wall's hole in Xuan-Da and settled 190,000 refugees. From that moment on, Zhu Yijun thought that Wang Chonggu was not unusable, at least not a base scholar, but a capable official.

"Your Majesty, all 582 criminals of the Kong Fu have been beheaded." Wang Chonggu bowed his head and said.

Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and said with a smile: "Wang Cifu has worked hard."

Qi Jiguang confirmed again that Ma Fang was right. Wang Chonggu really didn't dare. The Emperor let him kill the entire Kong Fu, and Wang Chonggu really killed them.

"Wang Cifu Wang, I heard that the Ministry of Justice has been handling the case of checking gambling shops recently. Are you going to arrest people today?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and said with great interest.

Wang Chonggu looked at Qi Jiguang and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is still related to the Beijing Camp. The Beijing Camp's military law is strict, and gambling is forbidden. Those who violate it will be punished with military sticks for light offenses and military law for heavy offenses. However, outside the Beijing Camp, some people have set their sights on the families of these soldiers."

Qi Jiguang's expression changed drastically. He clenched his fists tightly, but didn't say much. He sat down somewhat dejectedly. Outside the military camp, it was not his business. Actually, before setting out, he had heard of these people, but the expedition was imminent, and he didn't have time to take care of it.

He was a martial general, a very capable martial general. Outside the battlefield, he couldn't manage too much.

Wang Chonggu bowed his head again and said: "In early June, the family of a soldier in the 17th Infantry Battalion of the North Camp went to the Shuntian Prefecture yamen to beat the drum and complain. I saw the Shuntian Prefecture's official document and started arresting gamblers. It just so happens that Jilong Island lacks people to cut wood."

"Not only the military camp, but also around the official factories, there are people who specialize in this business. Craftsmen and soldiers, because of the imperial court's favor, have very little savings in their hands. These treacherous people have set their sights on craftsmen, soldiers, and their families."

Zhu Yijun frowned and said: "Pick a few leaders, verify them, and behead them to show the public, to achieve the effect of intimidation."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Wang Chonggu bowed his head to accept the order. This matter is not difficult to handle.

No matter how difficult it is, is it harder than killing the Kong Fu?

Zhu Yijun is definitely a "low-down" emperor who uses physical force to "low-down" people. Reasonably speaking, gambling to the point of beheading? The Emperor's decree, which is not punishment, is interfering with justice, but Wang Chonggu did not fulfill the duty of a Minister of Justice to blame Chen Shan and seal the Emperor's decree.

Tan Lun and Hence Hai Rui's judgment of Wang Chonggu was correct. Wang Chonggu was indeed a treacherous official.

Things handed over by His Majesty can be done. These people who organize gambling games are not lacking in desperate people. If your hands are not stained with blood, how can you open a gambling shop? If you don't stain your hands with blood, how can you collect the money you put out? For the leaders of this kind of business, let alone picking a few to behead, Wang Chonggu could pick dozens.

One must execute His Majesty's imperial order and ensure judicial justice. The scale in between, as the Wang Cifu and Grand Minister of Justice, can still grasp the scale.

His Majesty wants to solve the main contradiction in the Shandong area. His Majesty wants the Kong Fu to die, so Wang Chonggu supervised it. The 582 people who were finally beheaded all deserved to die and all had human lives on their hands.

Ma Ziqiang wanted to speak but stopped. He didn't say it. Actually, this is a dormant law, which is a law that is no longer used in practice. The gambling shop leaders beheaded, the running dogs chopped off their wrists, and the gamblers had their fingers chopped off. Since the Hongwu years, it had never been executed again and had long been classified as tyranny.

This can be considered enabling the ancestor's laws, and it can also be considered the ancestor's established laws, even if it had never been executed since Hongwu.

His Majesty did not deal with the gamblers too strictly, but struck hard at these treacherous people in the gambling shops.

After finishing the supervision of the execution at the Noon Gate, Zhu Yijun took Qi Jiguang to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which is the place where the Great Ming Emperor worships his ancestors. Zhu Yijun took Qi Jiguang here, actually to tell the ancestors that the Great Ming army had won another great victory.

The Great Ming army now finally looks like the Great Ming army.

After going through cumbersome etiquette, Zhu Yijun took Qi Jiguang back to the side hall of the Wenhua Hall. Here was a huge map, which was a map made by the Great Ming Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu using triangulation and latitude and longitude. At present, it can be considered an extremely precise map and belongs to the nation's top secret.

Qi Jiguang held a wooden stick and explained to His Majesty the Emperor the various details of this advance, as well as why such a decision was made. Many decisions turned out to be correct and extremely simple in hindsight, but at the time, without sufficient intelligence support, these judgments made people unable to understand.

This can only be attributed to the mysterious thing called military talent. Qi Jiguang was always able to walk ahead of others, make responses in advance, and anticipate the enemy, which requires long-term experience and also extraordinary talent.

By the time Qi Jiguang reached this point, his greatest enemy on the battlefield was himself.

"Relying on the greatness of the nation, being proud of the crowd of people, and wanting to show power to the enemy is called a proud army. A proud army will be destroyed."

"Being the enemy of General Qi is really a sad thing." Zhu Yijun finished listening to all of Qi Jiguang's reports and said with a full smile. Qi Jiguang might make some mistakes, but he would never make the mistake of a proud army.

Qi Jiguang did not like war. He had seen too much cruelty on the battlefield and knew the harm of military disaster. If he could not fight, he would absolutely not fight. Every time he fought, he would put himself in the position of defeat to think about how to reduce losses.

Poverty, coughing, and love are three things in the world that cannot be hidden. Obviously, after General Qi returned to the capital, the smile on the Emperor's face did not stop.

"General Qi, why can't the Central Plains dynasty send troops south?" Zhu Yijun pointed somewhat suspiciously at the regions of Burma, Meng Yang, Luchuan, Laos, Dagu-la, etc. Here is the Three Declarations and Six Comforts established by the Great Ming, a military control that is not tough. Now, the Toungoo Dynasty of Bayinnaung has formed a threat to the Great Ming's southwest direction.

Qi Jiguang pondered for a moment and said: "That place is not suitable for farming."

"Reasonable." Zhu Yijun said sincerely.

Qi Jiguang analyzed from two angles why the Central Plains dynasty did not form a county-level rule in the southwest region, taking the four expeditions to Luchuan during the Zhengtong years as an example. From the expedition to Luchuan during the Hongwu years, to the establishment of the Three Declarations and Six Comforts during the Yongle years, to the destruction of the Annan Kingdom and the establishment of the Jiaozhi Thirteen Divisions during the Xuande years, the Great Ming had always wanted to expand to the southwest. Until the Jiajing years, the Daoist still stationed troops at Zhennan Pass, intending to advance into the Annan Kingdom.

But finally, by the Wanli years, it still stopped in Yunnan. Not to mention the internal reason of the "soothing the distant people" wind public opinion, and the internal contradiction of a large number of chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Qian needing to change soil to return to flow, only the external reasons, there were two reasons that led to the Great Ming's attack being blocked.

The first reason is that it is not easy to fight.

The southwest has a lot of rain forests. The Three Declarations and Six Comforts are scorching hot all year round, with frequent rainfall and too lush vegetation, and there are many mosquitoes and insects.

Too high temperature will lead to two consequences. Once the activity is relatively intense, sweat will be like rain. Sweating too much not only requires replenishing water, but also replenishing sugar and salt, which puts extreme pressure on logistics.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but think of his special pear sugar water, both salty and sweet, and the taste was truly strange.

Whether it is sugar or salt, they are rare things. The army has more than 100,000 people. No matter how wealthy the imperial court is, it will be beaten into a deficit. If someone is tampering with it, I am afraid that one battle will cost the Great Ming half its life.

And the rainfall is frequent, the roads are muddy, especially the red soil in the northwest. One foot down is like glue, and it is difficult to move. And the enemy who is familiar with hydrology and geography will take the opportunity to sneak attack. The army's passing ability is extremely weak, and wanting to conquer becomes even more difficult.

And there are many mosquitoes and insects, so there is a lot of malaria. This kind of non-combat attrition of injury and illness easily affects morale, and also puts great pressure on logistics. And malaria will kill people. Visible enemies are not terrible; invisible enemies are the most damaging thing to morale.

The second reason is that it cannot be farmed.

It is the same reason as the Great Ming not occupying the grassland. The grassland cannot be farmed because of low rainfall. Then the Three Declarations and Six Comforts are always raining, why is it not suitable for farming?

It is not easy to reclaim wasteland, reclaiming wasteland is tiring, and cutting wood is even more tiring. The best way is to burn it clean with a fire. Setting fire is the only way for humans to reclaim wasteland, and it has been so since ancient times. But burning in the rain forest depends on the timing. Taking the Three Declarations and Six Comforts as an example, only 21 days a year are suitable for burning. While not much can be burned, once it rains, the roots under the ground grow out.

Reclaiming wasteland in the Three Declarations and Six Comforts requires digging out all those roots in the ground; otherwise, the planted food will be covered by local plants in no time. And the local land is barren.

Land is barren relatively speaking. That side is all leached soil, which is soil that is soaked in water all the time and is not fertile, and is not suitable for farming.

"Your Majesty, reclaiming wasteland in the hinterland, a person can toss an acre of land in a few days. Even if it is barren, in a few years, this land can stably produce two stones of grain. But when you get to the southwest, it takes eight people and more than twenty days to toss out an acre of land. Maybe after a few years, it will only produce one stone of grain."

"It is probably that side is somewhat chicken ribs, tasteless to eat, but a pity to discard. But now it is different. There is teak wood there." Qi Jiguang said summarily.

"So." Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly. In the Great Ming, generals who are good at fighting must be good at farming. Farming and war are one body.

"Why don't I see General Yu?" Qi Jiguang asked somewhat suspiciously. Today, when His Majesty the Emperor supervised the execution, all the civil and military officials arrived, only Yu Dayou was not there, which made Qi Jiguang a bit strange.

Zhu Yijun spat out a turbid breath heavily, shook his head and said: "Sick."

"The subject requests an imperial decree to visit the sick." Qi Jiguang's eyes widened, intending to go to visit the sick immediately. Yu Dayou is already 76 years old this year. At this age, once he lies down, it is really difficult to get up.

"Go." Zhu Yijun signaled Qi Jiguang to go.

Zhu Yijun did not go to visit the sick. He always felt that his killing was too heavy. If he went to visit, it would bring bad luck to Yu Dayou. This was Zhu Yijun's true thought. He went to visit several times, and the results of Zhu Xizhong and Zhu Xixiao were not very good. Zhu Yijun was waiting, waiting for the news from the medical officials of the Dissection Academy.

And at this time, Li Shizhen and Chen Shigong were both at Yu Dayou's mansion. Yu Dayou was indeed suffering from a cold. If it were a young man, he might have had a runny nose for half a day and been fine. But Yu Dayou was old, and his physical fitness began to decline. He developed a high fever last night, which scared Li Shizhen and Chen Shigong so much that they didn't sleep all night, watching by his side.

"The fever has subsided." Chen Shigong breathed a long sigh of relief and showed a relieved smile to Li Shizhen.

Li Shizhen also shook his head with exhaustion and said: "Hmm, one foot had already entered the ghost gate, but it was finally pulled back."

In Li Shizhen's medicine box, there was a glass bottle containing a clear solution, which was the Chen brine. The oral effect of this thing was relatively poor, but injecting it directly into the blood vessels had an excellent effect. Li Shizhen did not dare to use a large dose for Yu Dayou, but injected a little bit, and the effect was excellent.

And this time, the appearance of the new medicine gave Li Shizhen hope.

"The output of this thing is really too low." Chen Shigong knew the magic of this medicine, but the only problem was that the output was limited.

The only problem, output, the output of this thing is almost equal to nothing. That yellow mold has a very high output, but that thing is a poison.

"Can that yellow mold really not be used? The output is very large." Chen Shigong was still somewhat unwilling to give up.

Li Shizhen said helplessly: "Humans are no different from rabbits, mice, and monkeys. Zhang Siwei has already verified it. Yellow mold is indeed harmful to people."

Yellow mold is poisonous, but the medical officials are still unwilling to give up and have been experimenting.

The purpose of the medical officials seems to be to find the strain that produces green mold Chen brine in yellow mold, because the output of yellow mold is really large.

There are indeed strains in yellow mold that produce green mold Chen brine, but finding them requires a lot of people. Japanese pirates or people like Zhang Siwei, if they try more, they will find them.

Because the medical officials did indeed refine green mold Chen brine that saved people from yellow mold at the very beginning. What exactly it is requires a lot of experiments to find.

Qi Jiguang came, but was stopped outside the door by the medical officials of the Dissection Academy because the patient was still recovering and it was not suitable to see people now. After learning that Yu Dayou's condition had improved, Qi Jiguang chose to wait outside. After looking at the window for two glances, Qi Jiguang chose to leave. Yu Dayou's complexion indeed did not look like he was about to die.

On the

When reclaiming wasteland in the Three Xuan and Six Wei, one must dig out all the roots in the ground; otherwise, the planted crops will soon be covered by local plants, and the local soil is barren.

The barrenness of the land is relative. Over there, it is all lateritic soil, which is soil that is constantly soaked in water from rain and is not fertile, making it unsuitable for farming.

"Your Majesty, when reclaiming wasteland in the hinterland, one person can manage one mu of land in a few days. Even if it is barren, in a few years, this land can stably produce two shi of grain. But when you get to the Southwest, it takes eight people more than twenty days to manage one mu of land, and perhaps after a few years, it will produce no more than one shi of grain."

"It is roughly that it is somewhat like chicken ribs over there—tasteless to eat but a pity to discard. But now it is different; there is teak wood over there," Qi Jiguang summarized.

If you conquer it but cannot farm it, why conquer it? This is a very simple logic, but now it is completely different. Because under the policy of opening the seas, the trees in the Great Ming hinterland, especially large trees over a hundred years old, have become scarce. The timber needed for shipbuilding relies on this region; at this time, this place has sufficient value.

Logging, digging up tree roots, reclaiming wasteland, and farming have become a matter of course.

"Indeed." Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly. In the Great Ming, generals who are good at fighting must be good at farming; farming and war are one and the same.

"Why haven't I seen General Yu?" Qi Jiguang asked with some confusion. Today, when His Majesty the Emperor was supervising the execution, all the civil and military officials were present, but only Yu Dayou was absent, which made Qi Jiguang feel strange.

Zhu Yijun exhaled a heavy breath of turbid air, shook his head, and said, "He is ill."

"This subject requests an edict to visit him." Qi Jiguang's eyes widened, intending to go visit him immediately. Yu Dayou is already seventy-six years old this year; at this age, once he lies down, it is really difficult to get up again.

"Go." Zhu Yijun signaled for Qi Jiguang to go ahead.

Zhu Yijun did not go to visit him. He always felt that his own killing karma was too heavy, and if he went to visit, it would bring bad luck to Yu Dayou. This was Zhu Yijun's genuine thought. He had gone to visit Zhu Xizhong and Zhu Xixiao several times, and the results were not very good. Zhu Yijun was waiting, waiting for news from the chief physicians of the Dissection Institute.

At this time, Li Shizhen and Chen Shigong were both at Yu Dayou's residence. Yu Dayou had indeed caught a cold. If he were a young and strong man, he might have been fine after running a runny nose for half a day, but Yu Dayou was old, and his physical fitness had begun to decline. Last night, he developed a high fever, which scared Li Shizhen and Chen Shigong so much that they didn't sleep all night, nursing him at his side.

"The fever has broken." Chen Shigong let out a long sigh of relief and showed a relieved smile to Li Shizhen.

Li Shizhen also shook his head, full of exhaustion, and said, "Yes, one foot was already in the gates of hell, but we finally pulled him back."

In Li Shizhen's medicine chest, there was a glass bottle containing a clear solution, which was Chen brine. The oral effect of this stuff is relatively poor, but injecting it directly into the blood vessels has an excellent effect. Li Shizhen did not dare to use a large dosage on Yu Dayou, but injected just a little bit, and the effect was excellent.

And this time, the emergence of the new medicine gave Li Shizhen hope.

"The production of this kind of thing is really too low." Chen Shigong knew the magic of this medicine; the only problem was that the production was limited.

The only problem is production. The production of this stuff is almost equal to nothing. That yellow mold has a very high production, but that stuff is poison.

"Is that yellow mold really unusable? The production is very large." Chen Shigong still said, unwilling to give up.

Li Shizhen said helplessly, "Humans are no different from rabbits, rats, and monkeys. Zhang Siwei has already verified it; yellow mold is indeed harmful to people."

Yellow mold is poisonous, but the chief physicians still refused to give up and have been experimenting all along.

The purpose of the chief physicians seems to be to find a strain that produces penicillin Chen brine in yellow mold, because the production of yellow mold is truly large.

Yellow mold strains indeed have strains that produce penicillin Chen brine, but finding them requires a large number of people. Whether it's Japanese pirates or the likes of Zhang Siwei, after trying enough, they found it.

Because the chief physicians did indeed refine life-saving penicillin Chen brine from yellow mold at the very beginning. What exactly it is requires a large number of experiments to find out.

Qi Jiguang arrived but was stopped at the door by the chief physicians of the Dissection Institute because the patient was still in recovery and it was not suitable to see people now. After learning that Yu Dayou's condition had improved, Qi Jiguang chose to wait outside. After looking through the window for a while, Qi Jiguang chose to leave. Yu Dayou's complexion indeed did not look like he was on the verge of death.

On the seventh day after Qi Jiguang returned to the capital, the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun saw Yu Dayou again during the court discussion in the Wenhua Hall.

"General Yu, has your illness completely recovered?" Zhu Yijun saw that Yu Dayou was in high spirits and asked with a smile.

Yu Dayou bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. The decoctions of the Dissection Institute are indeed stronger than those of the Imperial Hospital."

There are four major unreliable things in the Great Ming capital that everyone knows: the articles of the Hanlin Academy, the weapons of the Armory Bureau, the tea and soup of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and the prescriptions of the Imperial Hospital.

The articles of the lowly scholars in the Hanlin Academy are foul-smelling and extremely empty, while the weapons in the Armory are rotten and useless—this is why the military preparedness of the Great Ming is not flourishing. The Court of Imperial Entertainments is a place specifically for cooking, and the food is very unpalatable; the masters in the palace all have their own small kitchens. As for the prescriptions of the Imperial Hospital, it is because there are too many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital, and the Imperial Hospital, which should cure diseases with medicine, becomes timid and afraid to use medicine when treating famous people.

Yu Dayou had even left his will, but the chief physicians of the Dissection Institute brought him back to life.

He could already joke; clearly, Yu Dayou's illness was truly cured. Thanks to Zhang Siwei and the Japanese pirates for their contribution to Great Ming medicine.

The court discussion began. Lu Diaoyang took out a memorial and said with a complex expression, "Censor Zhao Youtang of the Ministry of Justice has submitted a memorial opposing the beheading of the gambling den traitors."

"How much benefit did this Zhao Youtang receive to submit such a memorial? It must be at least a thousand taels of silver." Zhu Yijun opened Zhao Youtang's memorial and drew a red 'x'. It was already the sixth year of Wanli, and he was still taking money to submit memorials. Could Zhu Yijun really be fooled by these few words?

"Your Majesty, Zhao Youtang's words are untrustworthy. He said that Emperor Taizu Gao was tyrannical and lacked the capacity to tolerate others, which was a great harm to the world. In fact, that is not so." Wan Shihe raised an objection, saying that everyone acknowledges Zhu Yuanzhang was tyrannical, but as for saying Emperor Taizu Gao lacked the capacity to tolerate others, Wan Shihe had something to say.

"Oh?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wan Shihe. Could it be that this Minister of Personnel had some unique insights into rites and laws?

Wan Shihe bowed and said, "Han Yike."

"What about this person?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

Wan Shihe tentatively said, "This person repeatedly submitted memorials criticizing Chen Shan, and Emperor Taizu Gao not only did not refute him but adopted his suggestions."

Is it true that only Hence Hai Rui scolded the Emperor in the Great Ming? Actually, that is not the case.

During the Hongwu years, there were remonstrating officials who rode roughshod over Zhu Yuanzhang. In the ninth year of Hongwu, Han Yike said that Emperor Taizu Gao was addicted to killing and would behead people at every turn, or whip them and exile them to Fengyang. When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was not angry but accepted the opinion.

At that time, Han Yike said: "Punishments are to prohibit obscenity and evil, and to unify the people's path. One should discuss the lightness or heaviness of the situation, the public or private nature of the matter, and the size of the crime. Now, all are ordered to be exiled; this is the good fortune of the petty people, but the superior men are in danger. I beg you to distinguish them to coordinate the hearts of the masses."

Han Yike pointed at Zhu Yuanzhang's nose and said that Zhu Yuanzhang did not distinguish between rewards and punishments, and did not distinguish between public and private, or size, but exiled everyone alike. If this is not a muddle-headed emperor, what is it?

Zhu Yuanzhang humbly accepted it. To say that Zhu Yuanzhang lacked the capacity to tolerate others is truly underestimating him.

Han Yike remonstrated more than once. In the early years of the dynasty, the wives and daughters of officials whose homes were confiscated were all to be rewarded to the officials of various government offices. Han Yike remonstrated again, which finally led to the establishment of the Jiaofang and the perfection of the system, and Zhu Yuanzhang even said that Han Yike's remonstrance was correct and that he was a loyal and upright minister.

It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was tyrannical; this is a fact recognized by everyone.

When Zhu Yijun heard this, he wrote the three characters "Han Yike" on the memorial, which counted as a vermilion comment and also a formal response.

Lu Diaoyang took out the second memorial and said, "The plantations on the Wanli Sea Embankment are not being received smoothly."

Antonio had indeed given up these plantations, but these plantations nominally belonged to him, Antonio, and actually belonged to the local Viceroy. Even Antonio could do nothing about this; it was so far away that maintaining direct rule was simply impossible.

It requires the Great Ming navy to use force to collect the payment for the twelve five-masted ocean-going ships. If you want to reason, then reason; if you don't want to reason, then use force.

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(End of chapter)