Start with Baihuguan

It’s not that Wang Yangming doesn’t support the expedition to the Portuguese, but because he is in his position, he must consider everything comprehensively and listen to opinions from many sides. Now that Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others have personally fought against the Portuguese, they can It is said that their opinions have great reference significance.

Hearing Wang Yangming's words, Luo Xiang and Jiang Bin were stunned for a moment and then reacted. They saw Luo Xiang subconsciously looking at the emperor sitting there.

At this moment, the Son of Heaven also nodded slightly at Luo Xiang and said: "Since Wang Aiqing asked, Luo Daban, please share your opinions. After all, you have personally fought against those barbarians, and you have a good understanding of them. .”

Taking a deep breath, Luo Xiang showed a bit of solemnity on his face, first bowed slightly to Wang Yangming and said: "In our opinion, the Portuguese are not weak in Nanyang, and to a certain extent they are more powerful. It is the control of the important sea traffic artery of the Strait of Malacca. Not to mention the fact that the other party dared to attack our Daming royal caravan and ignored our Daming prestige. If you still want to continue to implement the strategy of opening the sea, then you will inevitably have a conflict with the other party!"

Li Huan on the side couldn't help admiring Luo Xiang when he heard Luo Xiang's words. Li Huan knew the importance of the Strait of Malacca, especially in the era of marching towards the ocean. The Strait of Malacca is definitely an important sea traffic route. But Li Huan did not expect Luo Xiang to have such a cognition.

You must know that people who can see the importance of the Strait of Malacca are not uncommon in this era, but definitely not too many. What surprised him even more was that Luo Xiang would say such words.

Listening to Luo Xiang's words, all the people present were pondering, and at this moment Wang Yangming bowed to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to take out the map of the world."

Zhu Houzhao naturally knew what Wang Yangming meant, and nodded slightly. Qiu Ju, who was serving at the side, went to take out the large map of the world and hung it up.

An extremely detailed and spacious world map appeared in front of everyone. It was the first time for Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others to see this world map, so when they saw this world map, their faces were full of emotions. They all showed a bit of surprise.

At this moment, Wang Yangming and others turned their attention to the land of Nanyang, and quickly found the Strait of Malacca on it.

The people present are all elite figures of an era. After all, they can enter the cabinet and become cabinet ministers. Not to mention others, at least they still have the ability and vision.

So when they saw the location of Malacca, Luo Xiang didn't need to elaborate, they could see the importance of the Strait of Malacca at a glance.

It can be said that the location of the Strait of Malacca can be regarded as the throat of the sea. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an important traffic route. It can even be said that as long as it occupies this place, it can block the east and west to a certain extent. trade.

If such an important place for transportation was placed in the past, even if Wang Yangming and others could see its importance, they would not take it seriously. After all, no matter how important this place is, it is only a wild place overseas.

It is thousands of miles away from the Central Plains, such a place will definitely not be taken seriously, but now, although it has only been less than a year since the opening of the Ming Dynasty, several major shipping companies in the Ming Dynasty have been here for less than a year. Among them, the commercial tax contributed to the court reached as much as 300 million taels.

If this is put in the past, it is almost equivalent to the amount of commercial tax that Daming may not have been able to receive for more than ten years, and this is only less than a year, and the scale of Daming Maritime Trade is not large enough, after all There are not so many merchants who are actually engaged in maritime trade when the sea trade has just been opened.

According to their judgment, as long as it continues, it will not take a few years. With the gradual development and stabilization of Daming Maritime Trade, by that time, just a few major shipping companies will be able to provide the court with at least three to five million taels a year. Commercial tax on silver.

This is only the commercial tax that the imperial court can collect, without counting the great benefits that can be brought to the people of Ming Dynasty after the development of commerce and trade.

After all, if commerce and trade are developed, it will inevitably bring many opportunities to the people of Daming, and to a certain extent, it can also promote the development of Daming.

It is conceivable that under such circumstances, as long as the ministers above the court are not fools, it is absolutely impossible for them to allow the emperor to issue an order to ban the sea with the support of the emperor.

It can even be said that as long as there are a few more years, vested interests such as the Xungui Group, which has developed with maritime trade as its core, will never allow people to go to the forbidden sea.

Under such circumstances, one can imagine the importance of such an important maritime traffic artery in the Strait of Malacca. If such an important place falls into the hands of the Portuguese, it means that the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty will be more convenient. Being stuck by the Portuguese, it is convenient not to use this strait to get stuck on the neck of the Ming businessman, but relying on this checkpoint to collect all kinds of money, I am afraid that tens of millions of taels can be collected every year gold and silver.

This is equivalent to cutting flesh from Daming, it would be strange if he could bear it.

Seeing the location of the Strait of Malacca clearly, Wang Yangming, who judged its importance, took a deep breath, a flash of light flashed in his eyes, and turned to Li Huan, who was smiling and silent, and said, "Duke Qin, if I send troops from Daming, I might win Pass the Portuguese and occupy the Straits of Malacca?"

Li Huan was not surprised when he heard this, and said lightly: "If the Portuguese come out of the country, Li can't guarantee it. If it's just the Portuguese who are entrenched in Malacca, I, Ming, only need to send a naval fleet. annihilation."

Li Huan's words are decisive and full of firmness, which makes people unconvinced.

Wang Yangming stroked his beard and nodded slightly, then bowed to the emperor and said: "I beseech your majesty to send a navy fleet to Nanyang, annihilate the Portuguese, seize the Strait of Malacca, and reset the old port propaganda department."

It has to be said that Wang Yangming is quite courageous. Since he confirmed that the Strait of Malacca was related to the interests of Ming Dynasty, even if it was an expedition of thousands of miles, Wang Yangming did not hesitate to support Ming Dynasty to send troops to seize the Strait of Malacca.

Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly, nodded slightly at Wang Yangming, and then said to Li Huan, "I don't know what Li Qing thinks?"

Li Huan smiled lightly and said: "Your Majesty, let's look at the land of Nanyang. There are many islands. The big ones surpass the lands in several provinces of our Ming Dynasty, and the small ones are just places to stand on. However, this place is rich in products, especially rich in spices. In addition, there is Malacca. The strait is such an important place on the sea, which attracts the western barbarians to spy on it. If we, Ming Dynasty, take it back this time, I think it would be inappropriate to re-establish the old port propaganda department."

Everyone couldn't help being stunned for a moment when they heard the words, and looked at Li Huan suspiciously.

Under everyone's gaze, Li Huan's eyes flashed coldly and he said: "Since my Ming Dynasty has sent troops to conquer thousands of miles, then we shouldn't just set up a mere propaganda department. In my opinion, we should set up the Nanyang Branch." Province."

"What, set up the Nanyang Province?"

Liu Yu subconsciously exclaimed, with a look of astonishment on his face, obviously he did not expect that Li Huan would suggest that the court set up a Nanyang province.

The Xuanweisi and the provinces are different. In the final analysis, the Xuanweisi is nothing more than a chieftain organization in Jiji, just like the Xuanweisi of the Old Port. Although it belongs to the imperial court in name, the Xuanweisi of the Jiugang is like a A local small kingdom is generally, and the imperial court has only nominal control over it.

However, if it is divided into provinces, it means that it is directly under the imperial court and directly governed by the imperial court, just like the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty and the thirteen provinces.

It's like Daming didn't care much about the demise of the Xuanwei Division of the Old Port, and even abandoned places such as Jiaozhi Dusi and Nuer Gandu Division, but he would not sit back and watch any of the two capitals and thirteen provinces become independent.

If Nanyang is set up as the capital or Xuanweisi, it represents the imperial court's emphasis on Nanyang and the degree of control. If there is a change in the future, a mere Xuanweisi can be abandoned casually and it will not feel anything, but if you say If it is a province directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, few people would dare to abandon it directly.

Yang Tinghe frowned and said, "Mr. Qin, Nanyang is thousands of miles away after all. The imperial court has already attached great importance to it as a capital. It is too much to set it as a province!"

Hearing this, Li Huan shook his head slightly and said, "Master Yang Ge, doesn't it mean that the land of Nanyang is not important to my Ming Dynasty?"

Even Yang Tinghe couldn't go against his conscience and say that the land of Nanyang is not important to Daming. After all, under the background of Daming opening up the sea, the importance of the land of Nanyang naturally increased all of a sudden, but in Yang Tinghe's view, Li Huan's proposal to elevate it to the provincial level on a par with the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty is a bit too much.

Wang Yangming and Liu Yu also looked solemn. After all, the establishment of a province is definitely not a small matter for the imperial court, and all aspects involved in it are definitely not something that can be settled with a single sentence.

But at this moment, Zhu Houzhao's eyes were shining brightly, Nanyang Province, if such a province can really be established, then from then on, Daming will have a pattern of two capitals and [-] provinces, and look at the land of Nanyang, The light of its area is almost comparable to most of the Ming Dynasty. If it is included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty through his hands, you don't need to think about it. In history, he will definitely leave a strong mark, and even future generations will evaluate it , that is also a generation of heroes who opened up the territory.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao immediately made a decision: "Okay, what Qin Guogong said is true, since my Ming Dynasty wants to control the land of Nanyang, then we must completely control it, and we must not let Jiaozhi Dusi and Nuergan Dusi If things happen again, Nanyang Province will be set up, which is equal to the two capitals and thirteen provinces, all of which are directly under the central government."

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Li Huan, the British Duke Zhang Lun, Zhu Fu and others all bowed down to Zhu Houzhao.

At this time, even Wang Yangming, Liu Yu, Yang Tinghe and the others looked at each other, and bowed down to Zhu Houzhao like Li Huan and others.

In fact, the establishment of the Nanyang Province is definitely a good thing for Ming Dynasty, whether it is for the common people or for the officials, it has its benefits.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the land of Nanyang can be said to be vast and sparsely populated. However, after hundreds of years of development, the land annexation of the Ming Dynasty has become a large scale. There are more and more people who have become tenants and have no land.

Under such circumstances, if the imperial court transfers these people to the land of Nanyang to enrich Nanyang, it may be a kind of heavenly opportunity for those people who are struggling to survive.

It is also a good thing for hundreds of officials. After all, if a large province wants to form an effective rule over it, it will inevitably require a large number of officials to form a government organization.

The whole Nanyang has a size of four to five million square kilometers, which is completely comparable to the size of the Ming Dynasty. Such a vast province does not know how many states and counties will be established and how many officials will be stationed.

As far as the official circles of the Ming Dynasty are concerned, it is unknown how many people will soar to the sky at that time. After all, if they want to complete effective rule over the Nanyang province, the Ming court may have to send thousands of officials. In his eyes, it was considered a barren land, but it was real that he couldn't stand the official position.

It is conceivable that once the Ming Dynasty established the Nanyang Province, some officials would desperately fight for the opportunity to serve in the South China Sea for those official positions.

Tianjin Wei

Due to the gradual prosperity of the maritime trade industry, Tianjin Wei has also become much more prosperous all of a sudden. At the port, you can see ships moored one after another, and the ships come and go, showing a busy scene.

However, at a slightly remote port in Tianjinwei, at a glance, there are a large number of ships moored in the port. As long as these ships are not fools, they can tell at a glance that they are new ships built by the imperial court.

At first glance, dozens of treasure ships as high as several floors lie in the harbor like hills, and ships of all sizes are scattered around, densely packed with no less than hundreds of ships.

This is exactly the Daming Navy Fleet that Li Huan spent a year or two building.

It has to be said that Daming is absolutely the best of all nations in terms of manpower and material resources in this era. It only took a year or two to build such a powerful naval fleet from nothing.

Of course, the investment and expenditure during this period is also quite astonishing. Li Huan spent half of the huge 2000 million taels of gold and silver that Li Huan left in his hands at the beginning, in exchange for the fleet in front of him.

Of course, this is only a part of the naval fleet built by Li Huan. After all, in the entire naval fleet built by Li Huan, there are hundreds of treasure ships alone, and in this Tianjin Wei is the entire navy. Almost half of the ships and people.

The rest of the navy is now scattered in several important ports along the southeast coast to protect the safety of the southeast coast of Daming. After all, a large number of maritime merchants in Ming Dynasty went to sea, which naturally attracted pirates and even Japanese pirates. Pirates and even Japanese pirates don't have much resistance at all. If these pirates that have seriously affected the safety of the southeast coast are not wiped out, it will definitely have a great impact on Daming Maritime Trade.

On this day, the tens of thousands of naval generals in the port of Tianjin Wei had made their preparations early. Above the port, a group of hale and solemn generals were looking at the emperor who was slowly approaching from afar. Luangjia.

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