According to the calendar, it is now autumn. But the weather in Beijing doesn't seem to be much cooler than in the middle of summer.

Early in the morning, Zhu Gaoxu sat on the throne in the Fengtian Gate, and he already felt the heat, perhaps related to the neat clothes on his body. Since the Imperial Gate was in charge of the government, the ministers below made various suggestions, all about the recent disasters in various places.

In the past few days, there have been urgent reports from Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and the flooding has been reported; The coastal areas of Fujian have been hit by hurricanes, causing houses to collapse and casualties to be immeasurable. It's been an eventful season.

The secretary of the ministry asked for the edict of righteousness, and the secretary issued a newspaper to advocate that officials from all over the country cultivate virtue and abide by etiquette. He also sent the imperial historian to Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces to supervise the various yamen to review the case files of various prefectures and counties, and strictly investigate the unjust cases, so as to appease the wrath of heaven.

And because Zhu Gaoxu has been very disciplined in the past two years, he has not been lazy in the early dynasty, listening to politics at the imperial gate, and sacrificing; The minister could not exhort Zhu Gaoxu to be diligent in his administration. Hu Hui, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, suggested: "The sutra feast has been suspended for three months, and this autumn is approaching, so please prepare for all things and reopen the sutra feast." ”

Zhu Gaoxu sat there and immediately replied, "Quasi-play." ”

Hu Hui bowed down again and said: "The autumn sacrifice ceremony is also requested to be organized by His Majesty. The court's sincerity of respecting heaven is the first of the world's officials and people. ”

Zhu Gaoxu also happily agreed.

After the Yongle period, the ceremonies of worshiping heaven and earth in spring, summer, autumn and winter have been combined into one, and they have been sacrificed together in the first month of each year, so the ritual system has been simplified. But in today's situation, it seems that one more ceremony is not indispensable.

The court's response to disasters was mainly to morally and spiritually encourage their subjects. Advocate the concept of selecting and appointing talents, being diligent in government and loving the people, and try our best to form a clear and clear atmosphere in the government.

This is consistent with the philosophy of the monarchy, the emperor is responsible to heaven, and the civil and military affairs are responsible to the emperor. Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu did not rashly deny the role; Although he thinks that what etiquette and what injustices are not at all logically related to natural disasters.

What else can I do?

the efficiency of mobilization at this time, as well as the speed of marching; If the imperial court had sent troops or temporarily mobilized troops from local guard posts to provide disaster relief, I am afraid that by the time they arrived at the place, the victims who had been buried by the collapse of their houses and swept away by the flood would have already died. Now the speed of material transportation is slower, and there is no point in transporting materials for disaster relief; Far water does not save near fire.

Only by relying on local prefects and county officials to temporarily issue cards and recruit local strong men to solve urgent needs nearby can they play some practical roles.

As a result, as officials of the central government of the imperial court, they could only talk about morality and etiquette, and Zhu Gaoxu had no opinions, and all agreed and accepted advice...... It doesn't work anyway, and it doesn't hurt.

Fortunately, no one forced Zhu Gaoxu to make an edict. After all, the Ming Dynasty is vast, and there are all kinds of disasters every year, without exception, and one or two general disasters will not be said to be caused by "the emperor does not cultivate virtue and politics".

It wasn't until the end of the imperial gate that Zhu Gaoxu said what he meant: "The Hanlin Yuan wrote a holy decree and asked the officials of the three provinces to report the specific areas affected by the disaster. The imperial court should reduce or reduce the grain tax in various places as appropriate. ”

The officials bowed down one after another, chanting "Holy Wisdom".

Zhu Gaoxu quickly left the throne above and walked out from the north of Fengtian Gate. He stood next to the white marble railing, and suddenly turned his head and asked Wang Gui: "Did Wang Jinghong send it back?" ”

Obviously, the hurricane that hit the coastal areas of Fujian came from the ocean, and Zhu Gaoxu was of course very worried about the naval fleet. The navy is most afraid of hurricanes and storms, and the past events of the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty army against Japan cannot be forgotten by future generations.

Wang Gui hugged the dust and bent down and said, "Back to the emperor's words, the slave and maid haven't seen it yet." After a while, the slave and maid sent someone to ask the officials of the General Envoy Department to count today's recitals and see if there was any news of the navy. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and walked off the pedestal.

He walked through the wide brick square in front of the Fengtian Temple, and walked out of the Wulou to the Rouyi Palace. Zhu Gaoxu was silent along the way, and his depressed mood was not concealed. After a long walk, he felt hotter.

When he arrived at the door of the main hall of the Rouyi Palace, the accompanying eunuch Wang Guicai gently persuaded: "Don't worry too much, the emperor can rest the dragon body." Wang Jinghong and others may not have encountered a hurricane. Even if it is encountered, the Ming Dynasty's sea ships are sturdy, or they may have saved the day. ”

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at him, and couldn't help but say, "I still have to blame for this matter." ”

Wang Gui hurriedly bowed down and said, "Don't think so, the emperor! Whether the storm will come or not is God's business, who would have predicted it? Previously, the emperor and the ministers discussed the military aircraft, and the slaves and maids served left and right many times, and they could understand it. Qi Butang said that in the barbarian land in the south, the cool season should start from the wax moon; It is only in the cool season that officers and soldiers can fight. If the summer and autumn avoid sailing, the officers and soldiers will not be able to catch up with the cool season. ”

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, and finally said the thoughts in his heart happily: "I will fight again at the end of next year." ”

Wang Gui was stunned when he heard this, couldn't find the words for a while, and continued to comfort Zhu Gaoxu.

For the sake of prudence, the safest course of action for the navy is to avoid the storm-prone season this year and first sail to Da Nang and other places where the wind can be sheltered. Wait for next year's cool season before attacking.

In this way, the Ming officers and troops could not only fight in the cool season in the tropics; And it is perfect for avoiding hurricane seasons. The only downside to this approach is that it takes too long.

A battle requires a year of waiting on the road first, and Zhu Gaoxu really didn't consider such a grinding method at that time.

Only now did he vaguely realize that he might be biased in his understanding. The vastness of the maritime strategy in terms of space and time, compared with the current level of technology, may not be what he intuitively imagined.

However, he had a full understanding of war and understood the far-reaching effects of a war; Therefore, Chen Xuan's remarks about "why fight if there is no chance of winning" won Zhu Gaoxu's approval. When the opportunity is not appropriate, we should not be stingy with time, because if we are defeated, the delay in the realization of the strategy will increase exponentially.

Zhu Gaoxu could not go to sea in person to replace the decision-making of the officials in front, let alone operate the warship specifically to avoid failure. The only thing he can do is make rational decisions on the big picture. This time, though, he clearly made a mistake.

"The emperor is too harsh on his own family." Wang Gui could only say this, and sighed with emotion.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to talk to him more, because what he needed was not comfort, but to solve the problem in a practical way.

He walked into the main hall and took a seat on a chair on the north side of the large table, and immediately saw a stack of pieces of music on the table. He looked at the sticker and threw it on the table. The originally neat table gradually became messy.

In the pile of recitals sent this morning, there was no news about the navy. Zhu Gaoxu stopped and sat there with a frown.

In addition to the messy piece on the big case, there is also a globe. This is a thing made in the woodmill, from the Gongbu Woodworks in the southwest corner of the Imperial City. The workmanship of this thing is very fine, and even the curved wooden skeleton supporting the wooden ball has a carving of a coiled dragon pattern, and the graphic words on it are even more delicate and small.

However, the engraved map must be very inaccurate. Part of the map is from the nautical chart records and Zhu Gaoxu's personal modifications, and part of it is completely added by Zhu Gaochu based on "imagination", and the latitude and longitude may also be quite wrong. However, the approximate outline shape of the sea route should not be a big problem.

There is a stack of books next to the globe, and the cover of the top one reads: Illustration of the Great Ming Treasure Boat. There is also a small print in the lower right corner, guarding the fake yard of the South Department of the Imperial Palace. In addition, there are some rolled drawings of different lengths on the wooden table, all tied with red rope.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the thing in front of him, and then he used his fingers to plane the globe, and the wooden ball rotated accordingly. There was a faint scent of wood in the air.

Perhaps because of the big things he was thinking about and most concerned about, he was like a stone hanging in his chest, and he was a little impetuous, and he couldn't calm down to do other things. He finally got up from his chair and paced beyond the wide doors of the main hall.

The eunuch Wang Gui was like a tail, and he also bent his body to follow.

Zhu Gaoxu stood in place, quietly watching the lush scenery outside the main hall. Outside the palace walls, the chirping of birds and finches was heard, and the green branches and leaves were almost motionless, except for the spotless brick floor, lying on the scattered new dead leaves, which made people feel a little autumn breath. There is no wind in the sky, the weather is clear, the morning air is fresh, and it is indeed difficult for those who are here to imagine the scene of a storm.

Wang Gui said cautiously: "Emperor, it's still very hot this day." ”

"Hmm......" Zhu Gaoxu continued to look at the scenery outside and made a sound.

He seemed to be watching something intently, and his eyes were bright. But nothing will happen in this peaceful and stable palace. The glazed tiles glowing with the mild morning sun sunshine, bright and beautiful, and a team of well-behaved palace maids are walking unhurriedly in the corridor at this time. For those who have lived here for a long time, there are few surprises and no surprises. Zhu Gaoxu was just imagining some empty artistic conception.

After a while, he retracted his gaze and remembered Wang Gui's topic just now, so he casually responded, "It's very stuffy." ”

Wang Gui hurriedly said: "When the palace maids over there came, the slave maid told them to fetch some ice. ”

Zhu Gaoxu was noncommittal, and he didn't care about these trivial matters.

He just said thoughtfully, "It's probably going to rain." ”

Wang Gui raised his head after hearing this, carefully observed the sky, and then seemed to fall into deep thought. Zhu Gaoxu had returned to normal from his state of distraction, and he turned around and walked into the main hall. Wang Guiwan suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly took steps towards the palace maid who came over.