Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 684 A Restless Year

"Haha...I really didn't misjudge Wei Banban."

In the East Warm Pavilion, Zhu Youxiao's hearty laughter was heard. Liu Ruoyu, who was serving in the imperial court, saw his emperor's long-lost smile and couldn't help but become more curious about Wei Zhongxian's urgent secret report.

This urgent secret report was sent from Dongfan, passing through Penghu, to Fujian, and then northwards through Zhejiang, Nanzhili, and the Shandong coast, finally arriving in Tianjin, and then it was rushed all the way to the capital!

To be honest, since Wei Zhongxian was ordered to leave Beijing, he took a boat across the sea to Fujian, and then went to Dongfan via Penghu. In the past, he had never sent a few secret reports in a hurry.

When Wei Zhongxian first left the capital, he took away a large number of personnel from the Eastern Jishi Factory and a lot of people. This attracted a lot of attention in the capital. There was no way around it. As one of the powerful eunuchs in the inner court, Wei Zhongxian climbed too fast, from being in charge of the Imperial Stables to being promoted to the chief eunuch of the Silijian and the commander of the Eastern Jishi Factory.

The key point is that after Wei Zhongxian rose to power in the inner court, he led his subordinates to accomplish many great things. Everyone could see that the emperor trusted and relied on him.

Why did Wei Zhongxian leave Beijing and go to Fujian?
This is something many people want to explore.

So after Wei Zhongxian arrived in Fujian, there were actually many people secretly watching what he did and said in Fujian.

This also made many people sense a bad sign. Wei Zhongxian came to Fujian with great fanfare, and the key point was that he made such remarks. Could it be that he wanted to interfere in the southeastern maritime trade?

Is it necessary to send another eunuch to guard the Forbidden City?
It is precisely because of this incident that the connection between many people has become closer. Even if they are in different regions, many people have become nervous because of this incident.

However, what no one expected was that Wei Zhongxian actually made a feint in the end. After getting what he wanted in Fujian, he went to Penghu without looking back and eventually settled down in Dongfan!
This stimulated the maritime merchants in the southeastern provinces, especially those in Fujian. After plotting many things, they ended up feeling like they had punched cotton.

The eunuchs who were worried about garrisoning the country did not appear in the southeastern provinces, but instead ran to Dongfan, and even took away a Fujian navy. This meant that the local advantage disappeared immediately, and all confrontations and games were focused overseas.

What a joke!

"Go get the map."

While Liu Ruoyu was lost in thought, Zhu Youxiao stood up from the throne. Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu lowered his head and walked quickly towards a place, where he found maps of the southeastern coastal provinces, Dongfan, Nanyang and other places.

After serving in the emperor's presence for so long, Liu Ruoyu must accurately understand the emperor's thoughts. If he can't even do these basics well, then he should not stay in the emperor's presence.

"After this naval battle with the Netherlands, the isolated maritime stronghold of Dongfan, including the surrounding sea routes, will no longer be easily touched by the naval forces of European countries."

Staring at the maps in front of him, Zhu Youxiao smiled even more. "With Dongfan as the vanguard, Penghu as the transit point, and Guangdong and Fujian as the backup, the Ming Dynasty has at least preserved one of its strategic fulcrums in the Nanyang region. That's good, as long as it's preserved!"

To be honest, the attention paid to the Nanyang strategy is not as important as the Pan-Liaodong strategy. Well, now it should be the Pan-Northeast strategy. The reason is very simple. The vast area headed by Liaodong is closer to the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty. For the time being, Zhu Youxiao needs to open up a new situation.

Therefore, he paid more attention to the Pan-Northeast strategy. However, paying more attention to it does not mean that Zhu Youxiao did not attach importance to the Nanyang strategy, because Zhu Youxiao knew very well that as the internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty were gradually solved by him, the Nanyang strategy became more and more prominent. The reason was very simple. The Ming Dynasty needed a cheaper raw material supply and a place to dump bulk goods, so as to continuously promote the Ming Dynasty's maritime development and the development of local intensive handicraft industry.

That's why Zhu Youxiao sent Wei Zhongxian to Dongfan.

No one knew better than Zhu Youxiao how the smuggling maritime trade groups within the Ming Dynasty would fight back as the maritime trade directly controlled by the central government actively expanded outside the Ming Dynasty.

Ok.

From the beginning to the end, Zhu Youxiao never really took the maritime forces of European countries seriously. A group of maritime forces formed by criminals and pirates were united under the so-called East India Company system. This meant that their primary pursuit was profit. As long as the profit was big enough, it would not be difficult for them to sell out their country.

After being hurt once or twice, Ming Dynasty would be able to gradually gain a dominant advantage by getting along with the naval forces of European countries.

The countries in Southeast Asia are so large that when the Ming Dynasty first invaded the region, it made the maritime powers such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain weigh whether it was better to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty or to maintain close relations with the Ming Dynasty. After all, the area they occupied in Southeast Asia was limited. Most of the area was actually undeveloped, and it was no exaggeration to say that it was wild.

Development governance?
This is never their first choice!

This is not plundering, it’s dumping!

"We didn't expect the maritime merchants in the southeastern provinces to implement the garrison eunuch system in Dongfan, letting the officers lead the troops to guard the key points, and we defeated the Dutch. Yes, as long as we can proceed steadily, the Ming Dynasty's rule in Dongfan will only become stronger."

"Xu Hongru and his men have also been sent to various places in Nanyang. The Han merchants in Nanyang are also willing to recognize the Dongfan enclave. The future of Nanyang will only become more and more interesting. Haha, I have to pay more attention to the situation in Nanyang in the future."

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When Liu Ruoyu, who was serving beside him, heard what his master said, although he didn't know what Wei Zhongxian was going to do in Southeast Asia, he knew one thing clearly: the Ming Dynasty would have to strengthen its control over Southeast Asia in the future! !
"Your Majesty~"

At this moment, a voice was heard outside the East Warm Pavilion, which made Zhu Youxiao frown slightly, and the words he heard next ruined Zhu Youxiao's good mood.

"The emperor's uncle Wang Sheng, the official of the Coinage and the Imperial Household Liu Xiaozu, the official Jiang Chen, and He Kai are asking for an audience at the Qianqing Gate!"

When Wang Sheng and Liu Xiaozu met, Zhu Youxiao immediately thought of the new currency. Apart from this incident, there was nothing else that could bring them together.

"Xuan!"

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao spoke immediately.

Although Zhu Youxiao didn't know what had happened, his intuition told him that something big must have happened, otherwise Wang Sheng and the others would not have rushed to the palace together. It was almost the New Year, couldn't things just be quiet?

(End of this chapter)