The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 188 Sense of Responsibility

It is understandable that the princes need to train their troops.

But now there are more princes-in-law, princesses and others, and they have all returned to Fengyang and are preparing to farm.

Ma Xun put his hands behind his back and asked, "Is this where my hometown used to be?"

Princess Fucheng said with tears in her eyes, "It should be here, but everything around has changed, so I dare not say it."

"Then rebuild the old house in the same way it was before," Ma Xun said. "Not only must every blade of grass and every tree be restored, but everything that should be there must be there."

Princess Fucheng nodded repeatedly. She was now used to a life of luxury, wealth and splendor, but she would occasionally think of her youth.

At that time, both my parents were there, my grandparents were kind, my three uncles were united, and I had two older brothers and a cousin. The home was very lively.

As for the whole family, only she and her uncle are left.

Ma Xun said seriously, "I don't mean that Lao Er, Tie Zhu and the others should live and eat in their hometown, but they really can't forget their roots. They know how they got their wealth now, but they don't know what their family was like before."

Princess Fucheng said quickly, "Uncle is right. The second son and Tiezhu are a little too spoiled. We should take care of them."

Ma Xun then looked at Wang Kegong and Huang Chen, "You two will go to the garrison to take up your posts. First, take His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin and several others to train the troops and practice the formation."

Wang Kegong and Huang Chen naturally had no objections, not only because of Ma Xun's seniority, but also because he was the official Right Marshal of the Grand Marshal's Office.

There is naturally no problem with such arrangements. In addition to making the best use of people's talents, it is also because Ma Xun really needs help.

When he was in the capital, he had Li Wenzhong and Mu Ying to help him, and when he arrived in Fengyang, he also needed the help of reliable generals.

Otherwise, Ma Xun would be alone. Although he was the right commander-in-chief and the hero who made the first contribution to the capture of Qingyang City, he was essentially not even a figurehead and could not even perform complicated military training.

Ma Xun was in a good mood after arranging these things, and then he turned around to find Liu Ying and Wang Wen.

"Brother." Ma Xun smiled and clasped his fists and bowed, "You guys have to arrange the farm work. To be honest, it's fine for me to go to the river to catch fish and shrimp, but I get into trouble when I pick up a hoe."

Wang Wen smiled and said, "You are too polite, this is what we should do."

"Don't arrange everything for them. The children are still young and need experience." Ma Xun carefully warned, "We are all family. Those boys need to suffer a little."

Liu Ying and Wang Wen could only smile at this time. Ma Xun treated Zhu Chong and the others as children, but there was nothing others could do.

Even if he is the son of Liu Jizu or the son of Wang Ganniang, it is indeed a favor to the Zhu family, but we cannot ignore the identities of Zhu Chong and others.

Ma Xun continued, "I'm now worried that someone has secretly planted the land, and then they won't do anything."

Wang Wen quickly smiled and said, "That's not the case yet. Your Highness must be asked to go to the ground."

"They need to know when to plant seedlings, when to transplant rice, how to drain water, and how much harvest one acre of land can produce. " Ma Xun said seriously, "Whether it's good farmland or poor farmland, give them some."

The output of good farmland will naturally be higher. If the soil is not fertile enough or irrigation is inconvenient, the harvest will definitely be lower.

Ma Xun has opened a convenient door for his nephews. Now the Ming Dynasty is encouraging the reclamation of wasteland. Basically, whoever opens it owns the land, and is exempted from taxes for three years.

This did not require Zhu Chong and others to go and open up new land, which was considered to have reduced the difficulty for them.

But then again, it is quite difficult to reclaim wasteland in Fengyang now. In other places, there are few people and much land, and everything is barren. However, Fengyang has a dense population, and the land has basically been divided up.

Wang Wen smiled and said, "Uncle, shall we go to the temple tomorrow?"

Ma Xun could only nod, as this was the task assigned to him by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang imposed certain restrictions and management on Buddhism and Taoism, he did not abolish them altogether. He just did not allow these religions to develop wildly.

Therefore, "Longxing Temple" must be rebuilt. This is the temple where the emperor became a monk and it has a different meaning.

Ma Xun is now appointed to be in charge of investigation and compilation, not only because he is now in Fengyang, but also because this is also a fake monk with impure roots who has made a living in the temple.

"If my sister knew about this, she would definitely quarrel with him again." Ma Xun joked, "She is now afraid that I will go to the temple, for fear that I will shave off the hair and beard that I have worked so hard to grow."

Liu Ying and Wang Wen also laughed. They were quite familiar with Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying.

As for Ma Xun's hair, although it has been two years, compared with normal men of this age, Ma Xun's hair is obviously not long enough.

Fortunately, he is old enough to tie his hair up and wear a crown now, so much so that Ma Xun even suspected that he was sent to the battlefield for most of the year before last just to keep his hair healthy.

Otherwise, a guy with a flat head running around in the palace would easily be misunderstood.

Wang Wen smiled and said, "Her Majesty the Queen also can't stand me. She has not allowed me to eat roast goose many times."

Ma Xun also joked, "She is stingy. She can't stand hearing that my brother-in-law was a monk, and she doesn't allow people to say that I have shaved my head. It was you who sent my brother-in-law to the temple. She must blame you." Wang Wen didn't care about it at all. Such jokes were his real face. This showed that the emperor and the empress treated him as their own brother.

They are indeed their brothers, otherwise this mediocre personal guard would not have been arranged so well now. All the nobles of Huaixi would call Wang Wen their brother when they saw him.

Liu Ying did not enjoy these treatments. After all, Liu Ying was only the son of Liu Jizu, not the brother of the Huaixi nobles.

Liu Ying smiled and said, "The temple must be relocated, otherwise it will be too close to the imperial mausoleum."

Ma Xun nodded and then asked, "Can the monks in the temple back then be found now?"

Liu Ying shook his head and said, "It was a bit difficult. When I was in charge of sealing the warehouse, many monks fled. Later, we encountered war. Those monks either died or returned to secular life."

Ma Xun began to worry, "My two brothers, after the temple is rebuilt, you two must say a few good words for me. Otherwise, he will ask me to choose the abbot again."

Liu Ying and Wang Wen were stunned for a moment, then said, "Uncle, if we really want to choose a host, it should be you. You are also well versed in Buddhist scriptures, and that is the practice."

Ma Xun's face suddenly turned bitter. "What kind of monk am I? You really need to speak well of me. If you don't do it well, you will be scolded."

Liu Ying and Wang Wencai were not fooled. If Longxing Temple was rebuilt, the emperor would definitely choose a high monk as the abbot.

However, in addition to having prestige in Buddhism or being the abbot of a famous temple, this monk would most likely also need to pass the emperor's assessment.

By that time, maybe Zhu Yuanzhang, the former novice monk, would take Ma Xun, the fake monk who had been a monk, to test him, or even let Ma Xun go to test him directly.

He has experience, he has been in the temple, and now he is one of the people the emperor and the empress trust the most, so it is natural for him to do these things.

Even in the eyes of Liu Ying and Wang Wen, there is really no one more suitable than Ma Xun.

After a brief chat, Ma Xunyou hurried to the yamen of the Liaison Office. The task given to him by the emperor was indeed not small.

The responsibility of the Liaison Office is not just to simply guard Zhongdu. In addition to training and inspecting troops with Zhu Chong and others, he also needs to inspect the armory.

Each local command headquarters had some important tasks, such as manufacturing weapons and so on.

For example, Shanxi and Shaanxi are responsible for casting cannons, while Fengyang is also responsible for manufacturing a series of military equipment, and the arsenal must ensure sufficient reserves.

Not only does it require timely replacement of the army now, but it also requires timely replenishment in the event of a war. Including the current battle in Sichuan, a series of military equipment needs to be sent to Xiangyang for Deng Yu to reasonably distribute to the army on the front line.

These are now Ma Xun's important tasks. He has arranged a series of tedious chores. He has no chance to be lazy or to lie down.

The most important thing is that these tasks are insignificant, and even if there are small mistakes, it will not be a big problem. The main purpose is to train people.

Zhu Di came running over, "Uncle, I checked the armory, and there are enough arrows."

Ma Xun nodded and said, "Okay, then you go and sign and seal the document, and then send it to the Grand Military Governor's Office."

Zhu Di was not happy. "Uncle, you are the right commander. Father asked you to do these tasks. Why do I have to sign and seal it?"

Ma Xun is not a non-stick pan, but sometimes he is more willing to train his nephews, or to find ways to give them some prestige.

Ma Xun turned his head and looked at Zhu Di and asked, "You checked it. I was just asking. Wasn't it you who signed and sealed it?"

Zhu Di, who was almost convinced by the perverted logic, reacted, "I was just ordered to investigate. This job is not my responsibility. Uncle, I signed and sealed the official document, so the responsibility falls on me."

"If you fail, it's a fault. If you do it well, it's a credit. Don't you understand these principles?" Ma Xun was not trying to fool people. Instead, he said earnestly, "You will be guarding a place and commanding a large army in the future. You must have some prestige in the army."

Then Ma Xun continued, "Ordnance is related to the safety of soldiers and the success or failure of the war. We must be careful. Only with good ordnance can our army be more confident of victory."

Zhu Di was half-believing and half-doubting, but after thinking carefully, he felt that what his uncle said made sense, so he happily went to sign and draft the official document.

Ma Xun was happy. It was not only about letting his nephews understand the living conditions of ordinary people, but also about letting them have some basic empathy.

A sense of responsibility cannot be lacking either. The emperor's wrath will result in millions of deaths and thousands of miles of blood.

Zhu Di and others were princes and vassal kings who guarded important places. Their character and ability were extremely important, and they had to shoulder the responsibilities that fell on them.

Being picky and lazy is obviously not a good idea. There were too many unstable factors in the early years of the dynasty, and Zhu Di and others had a lot of things to do in the future.

When Zhu Di went to write the official document, Ma Xun called Zhao Dayong and asked, "Have you really checked the armory?"

Zhao Dayong immediately replied, "The numbers match, but Your Highness Prince Yan forgot to check the name of the craftsman who made the arrows."

Ma Xun nodded slightly. It was normal to make some mistakes when doing things for the first time. As for the manufacture of military equipment in the Ming Dynasty, it was all implemented by the person in charge, and there could be no ambiguity.

(End of this chapter)