Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles.

A person's experience and knowledge must be increased through the people and things he comes into contact with and experiences.

The emperor did not expect Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youjian to be able to recognize the many problems of the Ming Dynasty all at once.

But at least it lets them know the sufferings of the people, how hateful corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen are, and how dirty those civil servants who appear to be righteous and eloquent are actually.

The mission assigned to them was similar: to investigate the collusion between officials and businessmen in Jiangnan. However, they did not necessarily understand the emperor's deeper meaning.

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youjian took turns talking about folk anecdotes, criminal cases, laughter, and ridicule. The emperor would occasionally interject, and the conversation was quite harmonious.

"No matter what dynasty, it is inevitable that 'rich people feast and indulge in wine, while others freeze to death on the streets'!" The emperor sighed with deep emotion. "The so-called prosperous times are the same, but they are relatively rare."

"Your Majesty, you are too demanding," Zhu Youjian said hurriedly. "From what I've seen, the people are living quite well. With wars raging in Liaodong and the southwest, it's truly remarkable that the court hasn't increased taxes. This level of compassion for the people is unparalleled even for a ruler as great as Yao or Shun."

Zhu Youjian echoed, "Your Highness Prince Xin is right. Your Highness has cracked down on lawless gentry and punished corrupt officials, which has greatly reduced the burden on the people. Especially the exemption of the lower classes. On my way back, I saw the people who were exempted from the lower classes kneeling in tears and thanking the emperor for his grace."

Although he may not have seen it with his own eyes, the emperor believed that those lowly people who had been reborn were indeed grateful.

The emperor nodded slightly, not being humble. This was the fact, there was no need to be hypocritical.

However, the emperor believed that Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youjian's understanding of the Ming Dynasty and their painstaking warnings to the ministers in the palace today had limited effect.

There is no way. They have no idea of ​​the direction of history and will not believe that according to the original historical trajectory, the great Ming Dynasty would have perished in just over a decade.

It is precisely because they do not feel sorry for China's decline that they do not have the same insights as Zhu Youxiao and the urgency for reform.

There is only one goal, to prevent history from repeating itself.

The reform not only involves institutions and personnel, but also education and ideas.

Martial, expansion, pioneering, enterprising... these condensed words represent big projects, big investments, and big changes.

Of course, the emperor did not say too much to Zhu Youjian and his colleagues, nor to his senior officials. Reform is a gradual process of advancement and deepening. Whether it is fast or slow depends on the specific implementation results.

The emperor ended the audience and rewarded the two. Having such insight, while not entirely satisfactory, was already good enough, and one should not expect too much.

Now that the reform had officially begun, the issue of the imperial clan and vassal states had to be addressed. Unfortunately, there were very few talented individuals among the imperial clan and vassal states, and Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youjian were two of the few who were able.

The emperor was exhausted after a day of handling state affairs. Fortunately, Fan Xiaohui and Li Chengcheng were by his side, diligently serving him and relieving his fatigue.

A pair of delicate hands rested gently on the emperor's shoulders, the pressure just right. The emperor hummed in comfort and closed his eyes slightly.

After a long pause, the emperor patted Fan Xiaohui's hand, his eyes still half-closed, and teased, "Xiaohui, is the red blindfold ready?"

Fan Xiaohui's face suddenly turned red, redder than the red cloth.

The emperor is so evil. He punished people with such shameful things and blindfolded them and did whatever he wanted.

Haha, the emperor smiled and said, "Well, there should be no need to prepare anything. Xiaohui brought it with her, right?"

"No, no!" Fan Xiaohui lowered her red face and denied it in a low voice.

"It doesn't matter if it's not there. It's under my pillow." The emperor opened his eyes, put his arm around the girl's slender waist, and admired her shy look with a wicked smile.

"Your Majesty, May is coming." Wang Tigan wisely did not enter the hall, but reminded outside the hall.

The emperor then let go of his hand, patted Xiaohui's buttocks lightly, sat up straight, coughed dryly, and resumed his righteous demeanor.

Wu Yue was clever and intelligent, but a bit greedy. But this was not a serious problem, at least the emperor did not mind it, and even liked it very much.

Being able to ask so many questions was one of May's strengths. The emperor answered almost every question she asked, treating the little girl like his own personal student.

"Long live the emperor." May entered the hall and, still knowing the etiquette, knelt down and saluted.

"Get up!" The emperor raised his hand with a smile.

Wu Yue stood up, blinking her big eyes, and asked, "I did an experiment to prove that water does have surface tension, but..."

The emperor grinned secretly. This little girl's thoughts were getting deeper and deeper, and her questions were becoming more and more tricky. Only I, in the entire Ming Dynasty, could answer them.

A smile slowly spread across his face, and the emperor's confidence and pride resurfaced.

………………………….

With the power of the prosperous country, we pacified Liao and destroyed the slaves.

In the second half of this year, these eight words appeared most frequently in newspapers and can be called the hot words of the year.

Despite this, the emperor did not make any final promises or set a specific time.

The news that made the people of the Ming Dynasty feel hopeful this year was not the victory in the decisive battle of Haicheng, but the news of the recovery of Liaoyang and the continued advance towards Shenyang.

In the minds of the people, Liao and Chenzhong almost represent Liaodong. As for remote places like Jianzhouwei, it would be better if they could be conquered, but if they couldn't, it didn't matter much.

But for court officials and frontline generals, the goal of pacifying Liao was not so simple. Simply recovering Liao was not enough to pacify Liao, let alone eliminate slavery.

The Jiannu's active retreat and the approaching winter caused the various Ming troops to speed up their attacks and pursuits.

The transportation of materials could still be sustained, as land transportation was very costly, and water transportation could still be maintained. When the rivers froze, the Ming army would be unable to advance and would have to stop pursuing, or even retreat to eat.

The Dongjiang Town's attack on the Sarhu area made the Jiannu dare not delay and accelerated their retreat. They also knew very well that if the people were unstable and their retreat was cut off, how tragic would their fate be?

Huang Taiji sent a series of urgent letters, asking the new Khan Dorgon and regent Daishan to send troops for support and asking the troops and civilians to speed up the retreat.

But Dorgon and Daishan were not having an easy time either. The Ming army's pursuit speed suddenly increased, and the cavalry and spearmen followed closely behind them, biting them like wolves.

Block, block, and block again. Layer upon layer of blocking, each time costing thousands of men and horses, bought some time for the Jurchen civilians and slaves, but the cost became increasingly unbearable for the Later Jin high-ranking officials.

Abandon heavy objects and retreat lightly. With one order, the originally orderly retreat quickly turned into a hasty escape.