Steam Daming: Stop calling me to supervise the country

Chapter 185
At the port of the Pearl River Port, Zheng He brought his team to the shore, looking at the busy port with fresh eyes.

In the early morning of the Pearl River Port, fishing boats returned to the port, and merchant ships also sailed to the sea. There was a prosperous scene. Three steam warships were parked in the port majestic. Of course, Zheng He's own ship was even more majestic.

The large fleet was still on the periphery, and came over with a treasure ship.

Zhu Zhanchang rushed over as soon as he got the news, and it was already noon when he arrived.

A pitch-black warship sailed across the Pearl River. Zhu Zhanchang's second-generation warship was painted in pitch-black as he intended, which was very conspicuous. The bow was tattooed with a dragon's head, and it was majestic.

When the warship entered the port, Zhu Zhanchang saw Zheng He's treasure ship. Every time he saw the huge ship, Zhu Zhanchang couldn't help but be surprised. With tools, the cost is enormous.

However, looking at the appearance, this treasure ship has not added a steam engine.

After getting off the warship, Zhu Zhanchang walked quickly, and Zheng He also quickly greeted him.

"My minister Zheng He has met His Royal Highness the Prince of Zhujiang County."

"There's no need for these false courtesy between you and me." Zhu Zhanchang smiled.

"His Royal Highness, although it is a virtual ceremony, it is also a courtesy."

"Okay, okay, let me take you to see the port of Pearl River Port."

"His Royal Highness, Chen Youshan, took me on a tour. Before I came, I also stopped at Ningbo Port. To be honest, it is far inferior to His Royal Highness's Hong Kong Port."

Zhu Zhanchang laughed: "By the way, didn't the second uncle say to privately sponsor a treasure ship for you? Did you do it?"

"Han Wang Ye is probably a noble person who forgets things a lot."

Men, sometimes you have to forget quickly when you talk.

"Why doesn't the treasure ship have a steam engine?"

Zhu Zhanchang asked a question.

Zheng He sighed: "Hey, I tried it, but the size of the treasure ship was too large, and I couldn't find a matching paddle wheel. In desperation, I had to give up and continue to go to the Western Ocean in the original way, but this time, two treasure ships were dispatched. Others Warships are steamships."

The main task this time is to send back the envoys from various countries that were brought back last time, and to lead troops from the sea to work with General Zhang Fu to pacify Jiaozhi, so I don't plan to go very far.

Zhu Zhanchang had sent a letter before, and this time he was going to go with Zheng He, he was going to visit the countries of Nanyang, and he was going to stabilize Jiaozhi.

Because of the emperor's order, Zheng He could not refuse, but he felt that Zhu Zhanchang's visit to the Nanyang countries was fake, and he just wanted to pacify Jiaozhi.

Jiaozhi is also a very important item in Zhu Zhanchang's first five-year plan for the Pearl River Delta. There was no plan for agricultural development in the original plan, because Zhu Zhanchang intended to make Jiaozhi a big granary.

The climate there is suitable, the rice is harvested more than once a year in Daming, and the yield is good. As long as the food import channel of Jiaozhi can be stabilized, there will be no problem with the food.

When the problem of eating is solved, the development will be smoother.

The two did not exchange much greetings. Zheng He led Zhu Zhanchang aboard the treasure ship and took out a maritime map.

Jiaozhi is very close to Canton House, and it can be reached by warships heading south.

Zheng He pointed to the location of Hanoi in Cochin on the map and said: "General Zhang Fu has led his army to recover the location of Hanoi. Now the northern part of Cochin has been pacified, and the rebellion of the Li Dynasty in the south is still going on. This time, I plan to go to the north and dock first. Meet up with General Zhang Fu once, and after mobilizing the troops, lead the fleet to land directly from the port of Ba Ria Vung Tau in the south, attacking from the north and south, destroying the Cochin rebellion."

The overall area of ​​Jiaozhi is long and narrow, and there are many mountains. It is difficult for cavalry to move and launch large-scale battles. This is one of the reasons why Jiaozhi has been in rebellion for so many years.

And even if you don't look at such a small place as Koozhi, your ambitions have never been small. If you combine the historical maps of North Korea and Koozhi's own exaggerated paintings, you will find out.

To the north of the Yellow River is Korea, to the south of the Yangtze River is Jiaozhi, and the Chinese people swim in the middle of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

In fact, the two have similar characteristics, and the ambition for China in modern times is not less. The two counterattacks of the Volunteer Army after the founding of the People's Republic of China were fought in these two places.

And even in modern times, they still say that the Spring Festival is theirs, fuck it, it's called the Chinese Spring Festival.

Looking at Zheng He's analysis of the battle situation, Zhu Zhanchang thought that winning them was not the key, but stability. There were many reasons for the long-term chaos in Jiaozhi, and historical reasons accounted for the majority. One's own customs, cultural traditions, of course, these things are formed on the basis of our country's culture.

There are similarities and differences, which must be grasped in order to stabilize Cochin.

After listening to Zheng He's war policy, Zhu Zhanchang also agreed with it very much. Zheng He is an expert in leading a war, especially a maritime war, so just follow their plan.

"Does Your Majesty have any instructions on the recovery after the battle of Jiaozhi?" Zhu Zhanchang asked.

"Your Majesty said, it is up to His Royal Highness to control the forces of Jiaozhi."

Zhu Zhanchang thought for a while: "You can help me with my staff. I plan to let the people of Jiaozhi rule Jiaozhi, but Jiaozhi can't have troops."

"Jiaozhi people rule Jiaozhi?"

"Yes, choose a talented person from the people of Jiaozhi as the spokesperson of the Ming Dynasty in Jiaozhi, let him govern the city of Jiaozhi instead of the Ming Dynasty, promote agriculture, and transport food to various ports."

The previous emperors never dared to let the people of Jiaozhi come to the throne. They sent supervisors and built the yamen of the vassal, but the results were obviously not good, otherwise there would not be so many rebellions.

One of the reasons is that the officials sent in the past often feel that the words of the ancestors are reasonable, and the people in places like Cochin Korea are borderline barbarians and cannot be treated with courtesy.

Now that Zhu Zhanchang needs this granary, Zhu Zhanchang thought of a very bad idea, but thinking about it carefully will bring huge benefits to the Ming Dynasty.

After weighing, Zhu Zhanchang pointed to the area in the middle of Cozhi: "This place is called Tuoyu, and the sea merchants in Guangdong call it Da Nang. It is still within the scope of the Lei Dynasty, but I plan to build a port here. It is a good port and it is quick to go inland to Siam, which will serve as the enclave of the Canton vassal in the future.”

"enclave."

"It is not bordering but under the direct jurisdiction of the Guangdong vassal, as long as the port and a small part of the surrounding area."

Zheng He couldn't understand what Zhu Zhanchang wanted to do now.

"Also, I will bring representatives from the business community to go to the countries of the South China Sea this time. There are representatives from all walks of life, and trade negotiations will be conducted along the way. Is there any important person in Jiaozhi who is close to my dynasty?"

"This minister is not very clear about the internal situation of Jiaozhi. The specific situation should be known a lot when General Zhang Fu is over there."

"Okay, let's prepare to leave soon. This is the first battle for the establishment of the Guangdong Navy. I will send ten steam warships to accompany the army. This is more than half of the combat power of the Guangdong navy, because the shipyard and the steam engine factory have just If it is not established, it has already been worked out day and night.”

"His Royal Highness's warships are more powerful than those in my fleet. This time, the fleet has fifteen steam warships plus three treasure ships. A total of 25 steam warships is definitely enough."

Zhu Zhanchang touched his chin: "Well, let's set off in two days and try to take down the rebels of the Li Dynasty a few years ago."

It's less than two months before the Chinese New Year, but the army is overwhelming and the place in Jiaozhi is small. As long as the few cities that are the center of gravity are taken down, basically only a small-scale rebellion is left.

After disembarking from the treasure ship, Chen Youshan asked Zhu Zhanchang alone, "Why did Your Highness take the merchants there?"

"If you don't do business with them, and don't let them know that farming can make money, how can they honestly develop agriculture? If they keep rebelling, they will waste fertile land."

Chen Youshan seemed to understand some, but not all.

"By the way, I remember that in the information that the Nan family sent up before, part of their smuggling business was in Jiaozhi, and the scale was not small. Xiaosheng sent someone to inform Nan Zhizhi, and asked him to bring the original smuggling boat boss in Jiaozhi, and also A responsible shopkeeper will come to see me."

It is still useful to keep the Nanjia.

Nanzhiren is in Xiangjiang Island. Now many famous families in Guangzhou have started to build houses on Xiangjiang Island. This is a major development direction, and Xiangjiang Island is becoming more and more popular.

After receiving the news, he rushed to Zhu Zhanchang's location.

Nan Zhizhi had no arrogance in front of Zhu Zhanchang. His position as head of the family was supported by Zhu Zhanchang and others. Everyone knew that he was a puppet.

"The previous Nanjia information said that your family's original smuggling business in Jiaozhi was mainly divided into two parts, the import of grain and the export of tea and ceramics. Among them, there were three main contact firms."

Nan Zhizhi nodded immediately: "Yes, one of them has been destroyed because of the rebellion of the Li Dynasty, and there are two more, one is the South Island tea business, and the other is the people's grain shop."

"The owner of this Minyou Grain Shop is named Li Minyou. I checked the information and it seems that he and Li Li, the leader of the rebellion in the Li Dynasty, are cousins, but is it true?"

Nan Zhizhi brought out a shopkeeper: "Manager Li was in charge of this at the time."

Shopkeeper Li knelt down with a plop. He knew that Zhu Zhanchang would crack down on smuggling after he came. Now that he has found himself, I am afraid he will die.

"Your Highness spare your life, Your Highness spare your life." Shopkeeper Li said tremblingly.

"I didn't say that it would kill you. I don't plan to continue investigating the past. It's good if you cooperate well." If the smuggling in the past was investigated to the end, basically these big companies had to arrest people and behead them, so only a few were arrested. A typical example of killing chickens to warn monkeys.

"Yes, yes, thank you, Your Highness."

"I ask you, is this Li Min really Li Li's cousin?"

"Yes, yes, Caomin has traveled to and from Jiaozhi many times and is familiar with the customs of Jiaozhi. The two are indeed cousins. Li Li's family is a wealthy family in Lanshan Township, Liangjiang, Qinghua Province, Jiaozhi. For many years, they have relied on smuggling with the Ming Dynasty When he made a fortune in business, Li Li and his people were not lured by officials or frightened by their power."

Zhu Zhanchang touched his chin. This Li Li is really a tough opponent. This kind of person puts his family and country first. He knew about him in the Ming Dynasty when he had no office. Xu's official position was given to him, but he did not want it.

After all, this person is a generational figure who won the Ming Dynasty army in later history and forced Zhu Zhanji to give up Jiaozhi.

"What about this Li Youmin?"

"He is an insatiable greedy villain who steals and plays tricks. Li Youmin is the orthodox direct descendant of the Li family, but his ability is far less than that of Li Li, and our trading center also likes to play some tricks and ask for some oil and water."

Zhu Zhanchang grinned, is this right? The comprador class has to let this kind of person do it.

(End of this chapter)