Zhu Ying's favorite thing to do was to extort money from the noble class.

What's more, it's something like selling indoctrination orders.

Originally, he was going to name it the Reclamation Order, but after hearing what the old man said, Zhu Ying immediately decided to change the name to the Four Seas Education Order.

It only took three days to sell fifty Four Seas Education Orders, each worth one million precious coins.

It doesn't mean that qualified dukes and marquises will definitely go out to sea to seek a fiefdom. It also depends on the family's situation.

Of course, maybe there are not many noble families that have found them now, or maybe they think these noble families are unreliable.

After all, it is a matter of enfeoffment. It is not enough for the noble families to just give money. There will definitely be a deeper bond between the two sides.

The dukes and marquises had to worry about whether these noble families would obey their orders when they went overseas, and if the time came, they would turn the tables and make things difficult for others.

The aristocratic families were also worried that the dukes and marquises they had taken refuge with would later kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Building trust is often not that simple. Overseas, without the constraints of Ming laws, who can control so many things?

In the palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "My eldest grandson is a man of good principles in making money. He easily got 50 million treasure notes. These noble families are still scrambling to get it, fearing that they will be late and lose the qualification."

"But fifty companies leaving at once is a bit too many, and we should limit it further."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "It's not good to rush it. It won't have the effect of educating them. Although the barbarians are not civilized, there are still some places that cannot be underestimated. If they don't meet the conditions, they won't be given."

The purpose of opening up the system of enfeoffment of vassal states was not to reduce the power of the noble class, but to allow the Ming Dynasty to reach out to more distant areas.

Among the conditions set by Zhu Ying, education is the first element, which requires at least a hundred teachers and enough Chinese schools in the ruled areas.

Of course, there is no requirement to teach to a very high level. As long as children can read and speak, that is enough.

Literacy is to enable everyone to understand the Ming Dynasty’s gazettes and read the Ming Dynasty’s laws.

If you want to rule a wider territory, laws are the most important thing.

Laws are rules and regulations, and are also an extension of imperial power.

When everyone follows the rules of the Ming Dynasty, the ruling power of the Ming Dynasty can be fully demonstrated.

If anyone breaks the rules of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how far away the place is, Zhu Ying will send troops to maintain the dignity of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if the cost is high.

…

grassland.

"When people are born, their nature is good. Natures are similar, but habits make them different."

"If you don't teach, your nature will change. The way to teach is to be focused."

The clear sound of reading echoes between heaven and earth.

"I really didn't expect that one day I would be in a barbarian land like the grassland. It always feels a bit strange to hear the Three Character Classic of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di was filled with inexplicable emotion. He had once been a vassal state in Beiping and was most familiar with the grassland. He had been dealing with the grassland for almost the first half of his life.

Either fighting or doing trade.

He had never imagined a scene like today.

Following him were the brothers Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui.

The two men disliked studying but were good at fighting, and were usually by Zhu Di's side whenever there was a war.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but say, "I heard that the crown prince didn't study much either. He left the palace so early when he was a child, and later he was engaged in business. I don't know what he was thinking, but he wanted these barbarians to study too."

"In the past few years, scholars have become very valuable. Now even the son of a peasant can read and write."

"In my opinion, studying is the most torturous thing. Does the prince want to torture these grassland Tartars in this way?"

Zhu Di was left speechless by Zhu Gaoxu's remarks.

He immediately scolded him: "You are an ignorant person. If the Ming Dynasty was not so prosperous now, how could so many people go to school? Do you understand what education is?"

"Although I don't like reading, your Highness is following the way of the saints, teaching everyone without distinction."

As he spoke, Zhu Di whipped Zhu Gaoxu with his horsewhip.

Zhu Gaoxu gritted his teeth on the horse as he felt the pain, but he had long been accustomed to such love from his father.

Although Zhu Di always disliked his eldest son Zhu Gaochi, the one who was beaten the most was definitely Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaosui watched from the side, not daring to make a sound, and followed quietly on his horse.

It has been a while since the Second Northern Expedition came to the grassland, but this time the tribes on the grassland have learned their lesson and just run away when they hear the wind, and many of them have simply given up their ancestral lands.

The Ming Dynasty's 300,000 cavalrymen are no match for the Mongolian soldiers.

The riding and archery skills of these grassland cavalrymen are definitely superior to those of the Ming cavalry, but the crushing advantage in equipment cannot be surpassed by individual skills.

Especially in such a large-scale battle.

The Ming Dynasty's soldiers are all wearing half-body armor, which is also to better increase the speed of the horses.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's war horses ate corn concentrate feed every day, so they were superior to the starving Mongolian horses in terms of endurance and speed.

In this small-scale cavalry battle, the grassland could not gain any advantage at all, not to mention that there are now a lot of traitors on the grassland. Many tribes, after joining the Ming army, acted as guides for the Ming army and pursued other tribes.

Regardless of whether they were captives or defectors, according to Ming laws, anyone under the age of thirty had to go to school.

This is also the reason why the sound of reading can be heard everywhere on the grassland.

"Father, are we not going back to Yancheng?" asked Zhu Gaoxu after being whipped.

Zhu Di said: "You asked this question because of the news from the capital yesterday. What? Are you moved?"

"But your eldest brother didn't say that the emperor's grandson could also be granted a vassal state. Now the court means that only dukes and marquises can be granted the title."

Zhu Gaoxu was unwilling to give in and said, "If a duke can do it, why can't I? Can't a descendant of the royal family be compared to a small marquis?"

"When it comes to conquering cities and territories, how can I be inferior to those marquisates? What they can do, I can certainly do as well. If my father asks Grandpa Huang, Grandpa Huang will definitely agree."

Zhu Di snorted coldly: "Why do you think that the matter of conferring the title of vassal states was done by your royal grandfather? Does this look like the work of your royal grandfather? Throughout history, even the vassal states of the Shang and Zhou dynasties have never been conferred like this."

"This is clearly your good brother's trick. If you want to obtain the enlightenment order, you need to pay one million treasure notes. Let me ask you, can you come up with one million treasure notes?"

"Don't think about those things. Now we are on the Northern Expedition. Do you want to disobey the imperial edict and give up the Northern Expedition, and go to sea to fight for those vassal states?"

Zhu Gaoxu was speechless after being scolded.

However, Zhu Di was right about one thing. No matter how lively the capital is now, it has little to do with the three kings for the time being.

Now they had to march north according to Zhu Yuanzhang's edict. Only after the Oirat and Tatar were destroyed would the Northern Expedition be considered over.

However, it is extremely difficult to destroy the Tatars and the Oirat.

These people are hiding everywhere, and it is very difficult to track them in the vast grassland.

Even if there were many grassland tribesmen who had taken refuge and served as guides, it would not be possible to find them in a short time.

Even if we find some traces, if we alert the enemy, they might run away again.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty is now wealthy, unmatched by any other dynasty in history. Any other dynasty would not be able to withstand such a situation. The daily consumption of food and grass could drag down the dynasty at its peak.

This would also be impossible if there were no trains in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the three kings were not in a hurry and slowly expanded the search range.

Now the railway from Daqingshan to Arshan is under construction, and what the three kings have to do is to ensure the smooth laying of this railway.

Once the road is completed, the Ming army will set up a military town in Arshan.

Arxan is located in the heart of the Greater Khingan Range forest area and is the intersection of the world's four largest grasslands, namely the Four Grasslands of Mongolia, Hulunbuir Grassland, Xilin Gol Grassland, and Horqin Grassland.

After the Ming army occupied Arshan, it was equivalent to occupying the four major grasslands of Mongolia. The Mongols who lost the four major grasslands would have no possibility of rising again.

They had only two options: surrender or migrate away.

Oh, there is a third way, which is to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army.

However, this third point was not considered by the Ming army, the Oirat, or the Tatars.

No matter how stubborn you are, this is not the way to play.

Now the Ming Dynasty has stockpiled 300,000 cavalry and 300,000 infantry on the grassland. What can they use to fight?

Perhaps someone in the grassland suggested destroying the Ming train, but in fact this is very difficult.

In order to protect the railway tracks, the Ming army set up special cavalry patrols on the railway lines, and anyone who approached would be killed without mercy.

Moreover, even if it took a lot of effort to destroy it and caused losses to the Ming army, the Ming army could still repair it quickly.

So it doesn’t have much practical significance.

Before the train was running, the Ming army would often send out cavalry to check whether the tracks were damaged to ensure the safe operation of the train.

The news from the steppe soon reached Samarkand.

When Timur heard that the Ming Dynasty already had 300,000 cavalry, he was so angry that he threw his wine glass down on the spot.

You should know that the total number of Timur's cavalry is only more than 200,000, and has not yet reached 300,000.

The total number of troops is about 1.3 million, and the main force is about 700,000.

At this time, Timur was launching wars on all sides at the same time.

It was impossible for him to deploy more troops to fight against the Ming Dynasty, as this would greatly hinder the development of the entire Timurid Empire.

You have to know that even though Timur was so powerful, the total population of all the areas under his jurisdiction was only about 30 million.

According to the latest report from the Ming Dynasty Gazette, the current population of the Ming Dynasty has reached over 100 million.

This means that the population of the Ming Dynasty is three times that of the entire Timurid Empire. If Timur wants to attack the Ming Dynasty, he will need to fight at a long distance, which will consume more resources.

"I didn't expect that the Northern Yuan Dynasty was so useless that the Ming Dynasty plundered more than 300,000 war horses to form such a cavalry."

"The current Ming Dynasty is a greater threat to us. They have trains that can transport food and fodder faster. They may even plan to attack Samarkand."

"Think about it, how should we deal with it?"

In the royal palace of Samarkand, Timur held the scepter and asked his ministers and grandchildren below.

In the royal palace, besides the ministers, there were also his descendants, including Pirmahamat, Mahamat Sultan, Khalil, and Shah Rukh.

Timur did not send them to the Northern Yuan Dynasty to fight the Ming army, but kept them in Samarkand to make preparations.

In Timur's plan, Cabest was the vanguard to first investigate the Ming army's details and start the war. Only then would Timur personally lead an expedition to the Ming Dynasty.

Timur also summoned back his descendants who were supposed to fight in various places to prepare food, cattle, sheep, and troops, waiting for the expedition to the Ming Dynasty.

But the current situation made Timur, who had already made sufficient preparations, feel a little embarrassed.

I have been preparing for so long, and have mobilized an army of 200,000, and yet you tell me that the Ming Dynasty now has an additional 300,000 cavalry.

This is a huge joke.

Timur was unable to mobilize so many cavalry to attack the Ming Dynasty. Together with Cabest's 100,000 cavalry, he could only mobilize a total of 200,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry to cooperate.

Because Timur was at war with various countries at the same time, he could not concentrate all his forces. These 300,000, or perhaps 400,000 at most, troops had already reached Timur's limit.

You should know that at the beginning, Timur only prepared an army of 200,000. Later, as intelligence from the Ming Dynasty continued to arrive, Timur found that 200,000 was not enough, so he continued to increase the number of troops.

But now the Ming Dynasty's 300,000 cavalry completely disrupted Timur's plan.

According to the current situation, if he insists on attacking the Ming Dynasty, he will have to prepare another 200,000 troops, reaching a total of 600,000.

But this is impossible unless Timur stops all wars with other countries and concentrates all his military forces.

The most crucial thing is that the Ming Dynasty now has 600,000 troops on the grassland, but in fact they have trains, which can quickly send reinforcements and even reach a million troops.

Moreover, even if Timur really mobilized 600,000 troops, the food and supplies behind them would not be able to keep up with the pace of the expeditionary force.

This is very likely to lead to the destruction of the entire Timurid Empire.

So when Timur heard the news, he was so angry that he smashed his favorite ruby ​​wine glass on the spot.

The red gems scattered and shattered on the ground represent that His Majesty is in a very unhappy mood.

The ministers below, including the princes and grandchildren of the emperor, were all silent and dared not speak.

Timur, who received no response, said to his son Shah Rukh with a gloomy face: "You are my bravest son. You have won great victories for me in the Golden Horde. Tell me how to attack the Ming Dynasty now."

Compared to others, Shaharu is relatively honest.

Therefore, in terms of personality, they are also more direct.

Hearing his father's question, Shah Rukh replied: "I think we should not fight the Ming Dynasty anymore. We should withdraw General Cabest."

"The strength of the Ming Dynasty has exceeded our expectations. We cannot sustain such a long expedition. Perhaps we can make friends with the Ming Dynasty."

Timur snorted coldly, obviously not satisfied with such an answer. He stared at Shah Rukh fiercely and said, "Shah Rukh, my bravest son, so you are afraid of war with the Ming Dynasty and death now?"

"In Samarkand, I have already prepared 300,000 troops and countless cattle and sheep. Now you want me to submit to the Ming Dynasty again. Do you want all the people living under the blue sky to laugh at me?"

"They will say, look at the Sultan of Samarkand, he is a coward and a weakling, he fled in fear before he even saw the enemy."

Timur's seemingly joking words made Shah Rukh kneel on the ground, not daring to look up.

He didn't know what to say.

The other ministers were also trembling with fear.

In fact, everyone now knows that it is impossible to attack the Ming Dynasty again. The strength of the Ming Dynasty is beyond their expectations, and this expedition will become a joke.

But these words cannot come out of their mouths, otherwise where would the Sultan’s face be?

Now Samarkand had just conquered the Ottoman Empire and the Delhi Sultanate. It was at the peak of its power, but it encountered great difficulties in its expedition to the Ming Dynasty.

It was obvious that their Sultan did not want to give up the expedition against the Ming Dynasty.