Chapter 40 The Imperial Decree
Seeing this, Liu Yongcheng immediately understood what was inside, lifted his clothes and knelt down to receive the order.
Liu Yongcheng had been his savior, but now he was kneeling before him. Huai En's voice was a little dry. He tried to calm his nervous mood and then said, "His Majesty the Emperor has ordered General Liu Yongcheng to patrol the border with Princess Shunde. The princess's personal guards will accompany the army. This matter will be settled before the New Year, and the princess will return to Beijing to celebrate the festival."
Liu Yongcheng had no doubts and kowtowed to receive the order. He then carefully scanned the contents of the imperial edict and saw that it was indeed Zhu Zhanji's handwriting, with the imperial seal on it. He then said, "Your Highness, why did you take it out only now?"
Zhu Yuhuan put his hands behind his back, smiled and said, "Dad is afraid that I can't endure the hardship. If he takes out this imperial edict in advance, I won't be able to escape when the time comes. So he asked me to practice my courage first."
She was not lying. Although Zhu Yuhuan had followed Zhu Zhanji on border patrols before, all he saw were Uriankhai captives, and he had not seen Zhu Zhanji personally lead the army. Zhu Zhanji was unsure of Zhu Yuhuan's courage, and Zhu Yuhuan was also afraid of "making a fool of himself", so he followed Zhu Zhanji's instructions and went to the trade market first. If he was sure, he would talk to Liu Yongcheng about patrolling the border.
Anyway, this imperial edict did not go through the cabinet and no one knew about it. Even if Zhu Yuhuan did not participate in the border patrol in the end, there was no need to worry about it being known.
Liu Yongcheng showed a helpless smile and said, "Your Highness is very courageous."
Not only is he courageous, but he is also able to keep his composure.
Zhu Yuhuan approached Liu Yongcheng curiously and asked, "What does the imperial edict look like? I haven't seen it yet."
Since the imperial edict was not delivered to Liu Yongcheng in person, it was specially sealed, and Zhu Yuhuan naturally had not seen it in advance.
No matter how good her relationship with her master was, this imperial edict was not something she could casually look at, and it would also cause trouble for Liu Yongcheng.
Liu Yongcheng brought the imperial edict to Zhu Yuhuan, pointing to its contents and explaining them one by one. Finally, he pointed to the seal mark at the end and said to Zhu Yuhuan, "This imperial seal was affixed to the imperial edict last, and it is in the custody of the Shangbaojian." He pointed to the seal on it and said, "This is the imperial seal for official matters. If it were a private seal, it would be in the custody of the Yinshoujian. This imperial edict is brief, so there is no need to organize the key points, so it has not been affixed with a yellow seal."
Zhu Yuhuan's eyes fell on the seal and he said, "I see."
Seeing her staring at the seal, Liu Yongcheng warned her, "Your Highness, please be mindful of one thing: the imperial edict should be written first, and then stamped with the imperial seal. If the ink marks are on top of the imperial seal, it means there is something wrong with the edict. It must be presented to His Majesty immediately."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded in understanding and said, "During the time of our great ancestor, some people imitated the old system of the previous dynasty. For convenience, they prepared imperial edicts with the imperial seal in advance, and then filled in the edicts according to our great ancestor's wishes. Many people lost their lives because of this."
"That's right. Fortunately, the current process is different from the original one. The Imperial Seal Supervisor will inspect it again before the imperial edict is issued to avoid any mistakes."
Zhu Yuhuan's thoughts turned, having already taken the matter to heart, and she nodded, "Thank you, Master, for your guidance. Huanhuan understands." Then, she looked at Liu Yongcheng expectantly and asked, "Master, will you continue your border patrol further north this time?"
"No." Liu Yongcheng walked to the edge of the map and pointed at the route marked for the border patrol. "Starting from Daning Dusi, the entire army will move camp to Liaodong Dusi, and then return to Jizhou. It will be convenient for Your Highness to return to the capital by then."
Because Liu Yongcheng himself was a military general, although the number of troops he assembled was small, their combat capabilities were not bad. Therefore, the scope of his border patrol was larger and the route was longer than that of Zhu Zhanji.
Hearing the word "Liaodong", Zhu Yuhuan blinked and repeated subconsciously: "Liaodong..."
This is an old acquaintance of the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Yongcheng didn't notice Zhu Yuhuan's strange tone and continued, "The Liaodong Regional Military Commission was under the jurisdiction of Shandong. However, since the tenth year of the Hongwu reign, all prefectures and counties under the Liaodong Regional Military Commission have been abolished, leaving only the garrisons to store and guard the land. This border patrol is to inspect these garrisons to see if there are any escapees, if any garrison officers have encroached on the cultivated land, or if any officers are enslaving the soldiers to farm."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded in understanding and said, "The soldiers guarding the garrison are all from military households, and their families have been serving in the garrison for generations. If officials continue to oppress them, how can the soldiers concentrate on guarding the border town? No wonder Daddy is inspecting the border outposts to prevent such deception."
The Jinyiwei assigned by Zhu Zhanji to Zhu Yuhuan were nominally the princess's escorts, but in reality they were still managed by the Jinyiwei and served as the emperor's eyes and ears. It is no wonder that Zhu Zhanji allowed Zhu Yuhuan to patrol the border with Liu Yongcheng.
"Even ordinary border towns are prone to desertion, let alone places like Liaodong, where cotton cannot be grown and cloth has to be shipped from the capital."
Zhu Yuhuan asked curiously, "I read in the Annals of the Great Ancestor that the Great Ancestor once sent people to transport supplies from Dengzhou to Liaodong... is that no longer the case?"
Speaking of this, Liu Yongcheng's face faltered. "Ever since Emperor Taizong moved the capital, all kinds of supplies have been transported to the Jingji area, so naturally, we can no longer send anything to Liaodong." He coughed lightly and said seriously, "The capital also allocates food and cloth to Liaodong every year. Your Highness, rest assured."
Zhu Yuhuan didn't know what to say after hearing this. After all, compared to a place like Liaodong where the population had sharply decreased, the capital where the emperor was located was of course more important.
Not to mention the issue of supporting the royal family, repairing the capital and the imperial city is also a considerable expense. Even if she doesn't know the details of the national finances every year, she knows that the funds that can be allocated to remote areas must be very small.
"Your Highness seems to be very concerned about Liaodong?"
Zhu Yuhuan said with a smile: "The palace maid beside me is Korean, and she came all the way from Liaodong. She once told me about the scenery of Liaodong she saw on the way. It sounded quite interesting. The last time my father patrolled the border, he didn't continue eastward. I really haven't seen the scenery of Liaodong with my own eyes, and I don't know what kind of food can be grown there."
Hearing her mention food, Liu Yongcheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your Highness truly cares about the people. Even in Liaodong, he hasn't forgotten about farming."
Zhu Yuhuan lied with his eyes open, saying, "It's because Dad mentioned it that I've always kept it in mind. Even if it's abolished, Liaodong Regional Military Commission is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty and cannot be easily abandoned."
That being said, Zhu Zhanji even wanted to disband the garrisons in the north, let alone places like Liaodong.
At this time, this place was completely different from the industrial bases of later generations. Not to mention the black soil that people imagined, even the reclamation had not been completed. If they wanted to reclaim it, they would have to invest a lot of manpower and material resources. It was no wonder that Zhu Zhanji did not want to manage these places. After all, if he could transport less materials from the capital, life in the capital would be better.
The balance in Zhu Zhanji's heart naturally tilted between the prosperity of the capital and the poverty and remoteness of Liaodong.
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