My father is Jiajing

Chapter 452 Rebirth Plan
"My Lord, Prince Jing is here again."

Not long after sending Zhang Juzheng away, when Zhu Zaigui thought he could finally rest for a while, Meng Chong came over quietly and said these words.

Zhu Zaigui put down the Yongle Encyclopedia that he was reading to kill time, and asked, "Is he a human being?"

Meng Chong was stunned for a moment, not understanding why the prince would ask such a question.

But then he thought about it and understood, because usually when Lord Jing came to the mansion, he would bring Prince Jing with him.

Now that Princess Jing is pregnant, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the prince asking this.

Meng Chong replied: "Your Highness, it is only Prince Jing."

Zhu Zaigui said, "Go and invite my brother Zhen to the teahouse in the front yard. I will be there shortly."

Meng Chong responded with a "yes", and then followed Zhu Zaigui's instructions to invite Zhu Zaizhen to a tea room in the front yard for reception.

Zhu Zaigui went to his bedroom in the back house and changed into ordinary clothes, then went to the tea room in the front yard.

When Zhu Zaizhen saw Zhu Zaigui coming, he immediately stood up and bowed, "Brother."

Zhu Zaiqi smiled slightly, came over and held Zhu Zaizhen's hand, "You and I don't have to be so polite, come and sit down."

Zhu Zaigui pulled Zhu Zaizhen and they sat side by side on the chairs in the middle hall of the tea room.

Meng Chong also brought up the snacks at this time.

Zhu Zaiqi looked at Meng Chong and ordered, "Everyone, go down. I want to talk to my brother Zhen. Go and tell the small kitchen to prepare some of my brother Zhen's favorite dishes. Come back and report when it's time to eat."

Meng Chong bowed and then stepped out, calling out the other people in the teahouse courtyard.

Because Meng Chong knew that his prince didn't like to have someone standing next to him and listening when he was talking.

Of course, if it was official business, Zhu Zaigui would still allow servants to wait outside the door.

After all, some official matters cannot be private, and a third party still needs to be present. Otherwise, would it become a secret communication between the prince and his subjects?

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui had a good sense of propriety when it came to handling and controlling these interpersonal relationships.

I rarely do things that are kept secret from others.

Zhu Zaizhen saw that everyone else had left. He immediately leaned forward and stretched his head over, and said nervously, "Third brother, can you come to my palace and sit down when you are free? The princess seems a little bored alone, and I can't comfort her."

Hearing Zhu Zaizhen's words, Zhu Zaigui sighed slightly in his heart. He knew that Zhu Zaizhen would not come to his house for no reason.

In the past, he would bring Princess Jing with him to visit Zhu Zai'ao under the pretext of meeting brothers, and he would take the initiative to create space and time for Zhu Zai'ao and Princess Jing to be alone.

Now that Princess Jing is pregnant and it is inconvenient for her to leave the house, he took the initiative to come to Zhu Zaigui's house and ask him to come.

Zhu Zaiqi sighed inwardly, but did not refuse. He said, "Okay, I will take some time these few days to bring the princess to your house and help you comfort her."

Zhu Zaizhen was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately thanked Zhu Zaigui: "I knew that Third Brother was the best to me."

Looking at Zhu Zaizhen like this, I don’t know what to say to him.

Zhu Zaigui took a sip of tea and suddenly remembered something important.

Zhu Zaigui said, "Recently, because of the news of Princess Jing's pregnancy, your house must have become lively again, right? There must be quite a few people who gave you gifts, right?"

Zhu Zaizhen smiled shyly, "Nothing can be hidden from my third brother. Ever since the princess got pregnant, the originally deserted Jing Palace has suddenly become lively. Many noble sons and officials and wealthy businessmen who I had never met before now come to my house to congratulate me as if they were relatives."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "This is a good thing. It means that there is joy in the palace and it has attracted popularity. But you have to be careful with these people. Don't let them lead you astray."

"You should accept the gifts they give you and respond to their requests, but remember one thing: don't get involved, or there will be serious consequences."

Zhu Zaizhen nodded. The person he trusted most now was Zhu Zaigui. If it weren't for Zhu Zaizhen, he wouldn't be as successful as he is now.

Moreover, Zhu Zaigui has been very good to him in the past few years. He even brought him to the Beijing Martial Arts Arena and made him the nominal head of the strategy class in the arena, giving him something serious to do.

Therefore, Zhu Zaizhen was actually very touched for Zhu Zaigui's care and arrangements over the years.

Zhu Zaizhen said: "Third brother, there seem to be a few good talents in the strategy class. You can pay special attention to them."

Zhu Zaizhen was also a little surprised to hear this.

Zhu Zaigui said: "What are some good talents? Tell me their names."

Zhu Zaizhen said: "Ma Gui from Datong, Li Rusong from Liaodong, and Qi Jin from Shandong. These people are very creative. I often sit in on the lectures of the Strategy Class with them. Their sand table simulations are the best."

Zhu Zaiqi also laughed when he heard this. At the same time, Zhu Zaiqi asked, "How do you know that these three are the most powerful?"

Zhu Zaizhen said: "Because the three of them can beat the teacher who comes to class in sand table simulation."

After hearing these words, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but sigh in his heart that they were indeed famous heroes in history, and they had already shone brightly at such a young age.

You should know that the gentlemen who are now teaching in the military training hall in the capital are either old generals who have retired and are living in the Five Military Governor's Office, or some civil servants who are familiar with military affairs and have served as the Nine Frontier Military Inspectors or Imperial Envoys.

Occasionally, some governors and high-ranking officials would come to give a lecture or two.

For example, the former Governor-General of Xuanda and Minister of War Weng Wanda, had been doing nothing in recent years after being snubbed by Emperor Jiajing.

Zhu Zaigui transferred him to the Beijing Military Academy to serve as the Dean, and also let him lead the strategy class. When he had nothing to do, he would teach these little guys in the strategy class.

Although people like this may not be successful in politics, they are still very capable in the professional field of commanding troops and fighting.

In addition, as Hu Zongxian came to Beijing to report on his work, Zhu Zaigui also arranged for him to go to the Beijing Military Academy and tell these little guys about the situation in Zhejiang and some important battle analysis.

It can be said that Zhu Zaigui invested a lot in the future of this martial arts hall in the capital.

Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "They were able to defeat you on the sand table because they now have a summary and analysis of the battle before and after the battle. So in a sense, they are only good at talking about war on paper now." "When they graduate from the Beijing Martial Arts Hall and leave, and really achieve success in their respective military careers, then they will have real skills."

"But the fact that you can see their abilities now shows that you have put a lot of effort into this. When there is a chance in the future, I will ask His Majesty to let you experience the life of a king of the frontier and go to the Hetao area to experience what it means to be 'the smoke rising straight up in the desert and the setting sun over the long river'."

Zhu Zaizhen became excited when he heard this. Although the friction between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars had almost disappeared, there were still many battles going on west of the Hetao area.

Of course, these wars were not fought by the Ming Dynasty, but by Altan Khan.

In recent years, Altan Khan has been working hard to expand westwards and march towards the ancient Western Regions. As a neighbor and bystander, the Ming Dynasty certainly cannot take this matter lightly.

Therefore, there are now more garrisons sent to the Hetao front line than before.

The purpose is to prevent the other side from becoming furious and attacking the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the court's strategy towards that place is mainly to watch and defend, and at the same time, it will sell some food and weapons there in exchange for their cattle, sheep, horses, and part of the Hetao land.

After all, the Hetao area is still under the actual control of the Tatars. The Ming Dynasty and the Tatars are related by marriage and are still in the honeymoon period.

The Ming Dynasty was also embarrassed to attack the Hetao area at this time, and if a war really broke out, it would also be a destruction of the hard-earned peace.

Therefore, finally, at the suggestion of Zhu Zaigui, Emperor Jiajing adopted the method of exchanging food and weapons for land, and asked the Tatars to return part of the Hetao land. He used it as the Ming Dynasty's trade port in the Hetao area and provided enthusiastic logistical services to Altan.

This allowed him to attack the former Chahar Khanate, which was the Western Region since the Han and Tang Dynasties, without any worries.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty took over part of the Hetao area without any soldiers, and started business with various forces around it, bringing them luxurious Ming Dynasty goods and providing them with sufficient weapons.

While allowing them to fully enjoy the good life in the Ming Dynasty, their ambitions to oppress and annex each other were also expanding.

Of course, as a businessman, the Ming Dynasty would definitely not be happy to see its customers being beaten to death.

Therefore, as long as the Ming Dynasty felt that one side was at a disadvantage, the Ming Bank would take the initiative to lend money and let them use cattle, sheep or a piece of land as collateral in exchange for high-quality weapons provided by the Ming Dynasty for counterattack.

If the counterattack still has no effect, the Ming Dynasty will intervene in the war between them as a local mediator, asking them to temporarily stop fighting and not kill the opposing leaders.

It can be said that with the help of this great benefactor, the Ming Dynasty, the sense of security of the tribal nobles around Hetao has been greatly improved.

They can enjoy themselves more unscrupulously and kill their former enemies more unscrupulously without worrying about their own safety.

Unfortunately, they didn't know that if they continued killing like this, their subordinates and slaves would not be able to help but want to escape.

But how could the Ming Dynasty, as the embodiment of justice, watch these slaves betray their masters in such a treacherous way?

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty directly sent all these escapees back, leaving only their children to live in the safe area of ​​the Ming Dynasty and learn the culture of the Ming Dynasty.

This policy was also suggested by Zhu Zaigui.

Zhu Zaigui believed that the thinking of adults had already been fixed. Even if they were pitiful and helpless, it was only temporary. As long as they were given a stable life, they would be bored and want to cause trouble.

Moreover, if the Ming Dynasty really took in these people, those tribal nobles who originally thought that the Ming Dynasty was fair would also feel resentful, thinking that the Ming Dynasty was sucking their vitality.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty would not accept any tribesmen, herdsmen, and slaves who fled to the areas under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty due to tribal wars.

However, in order to demonstrate benevolence, the Ming Dynasty would, based on humanitarian principles, allow children under the age of eight to take temporary refuge, while also educating them on the Ming Dynasty's writing and culture.

Therefore, apart from the Ming Dynasty’s garrison and the endless stream of merchant caravans, the largest population in the Hetao area now is these poor and innocent war orphans.

Moreover, these war orphans will be taken away by their respective tribes when they are sixteen years old.

After all, the Ming Dynasty said at the beginning that it was only temporary shelter, not permanent protection.

Unless these children can pass the Hetao area's examination for students of higher learning or be selected by schools such as the Beijing Yanwu Hall before the age of sixteen.

Of course, this is extremely difficult, and no more than fifty people can stay in a year.

But these fifty people are an example, and their success will be a huge stimulus to the lower-class tribesmen and slaves who want to escape the war.

This will then turn into a subtle force that will always make them yearn for and be attracted by the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, it would only take 20 to 30 years for the Ming Dynasty to incorporate the vast plateau around Hetao into its management system without bloodshed.

It can also fundamentally eliminate the messy religious beliefs of these tribes and make them new Ming people who can actively integrate into the Ming Dynasty.

But this process is extremely cruel, and many, many people will die in exchange for this rebirth with a completely new look.

This is also the reason why Zhu Zaigui named this plan the "Rebirth Plan."

However, after reading this plan, Emperor Jiajing felt that this was not a "rebirth plan" at all, but a "root eradication plan"!
It took 20 to 30 years to dig up the roots of the tribes around Hetao, kill the old ones, and teach the young ones to imitate the Ming Dynasty.

This plan is absolutely amazing!
So Emperor Jiajing did not hesitate and approved it directly.

Emperor Jiajing believed that although this plan would take a long time, the effect would definitely be much better than a war with an unpredictable outcome.

You have to know that they had been fighting with the Central Plains dynasty for thousands of years. Even with the strength of the Han and Tang dynasties, they could only suppress them temporarily, using a policy of containment to coax them not to rebel.

But once the Central Plains dynasty weakened, these places did not have the same cultural identity as the Central Plains.

They would break away from the control of the Central Plains Dynasty without hesitation and become an intractable thorn in the side that could not be removed or eradicated, making the already weak Central Plains Dynasty even more exhausted from dealing with it.

Therefore, if Zhu Zaigui's "rebirth plan" can really wipe out these disobedient foreign tribes in twenty or thirty years, it would be a great achievement that will be remembered for thousands of years.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing did not hesitate at all. He took advantage of the current construction boom in the north and made the matter public in one fell swoop.

In the future, when people talk about the peace and tranquility of this area, who will not praise Emperor Jiajing's wisdom and foresight?

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(End of this chapter)