Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 897 Eastern Dragon
The Ming Dynasty's conservatism in maritime affairs caused it to lose too many advantages and opportunities. Once upon a time, the Ming Dynasty had an invincible fleet that sailed across the world, demonstrating national power, spreading culture and technology, and making countless small countries submit to the Ming Dynasty's majesty.

Originally, this should have been the beginning. As long as they continued along this path, perhaps the Ming Dynasty would have had a completely new situation. But they did not want to start at the peak, which made many people sigh.

However, during the Tianqi Dynasty, everything took a turn for the better.

The Eastern Dragon, which had been dozing off in the maritime world, not only woke up, but also let overseas know in its own way that it was moving.

Dongfan, across the sea from Luzon.

“Finally I’ve waited until this day!”

Taipei City.

Police Department.

Wei Zhongxian could not hide his excitement as he stared at the map in front of him. "We have finally closed the coastal areas of Dongfan. These new cities have officially started construction. From now on, no matter who wants to invade Dongfan from the sea, as long as these strong cities are firmly in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, they will not be able to take root!"

"It's too early to be happy now."

Cao Lutai, who was standing nearby, said, "We have all the coastal cities, but the construction of the highways around the coast, especially the highways to prefectures, states and counties, has diverted too many people to the construction of cities in various places."

"According to the current progress, it may take five years, or even longer, to complete all the highways built around Dongfan."

"Also, the military ports in various parts of Dongfan are currently short of manpower, which will be a significant constraint on the expansion of Dongfan's maritime forces."

"Then ask Zheng Zhilong, Zu Dashou and others to bring more people."

After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian said with a sharp look in his eyes: "The cities, highways, military ports, and shipyards in Dongfan must be built as soon as possible!"

"Also, send a message to Li Hongji, telling the Warrior Battalion to speed up the cleanup in various places. Those natives should either submit to the king or work themselves to death!!"

"In addition, we should recruit young and strong people from Ryukyu. The Ming Dynasty paid such a huge price to help them restore their country, but the Ryukyu royal family did nothing? This is unacceptable!"

Cao Huachun frowned slightly.

Even Cao Lutai has changed a bit.

Ever since Yu Zigao took command of the Dongfan Navy and went to fight in the Ryukyu Sea, some of Wei Zhongxian's behaviors have become increasingly radical.

For example, during the construction of the city, the laborers (not Ming citizens) gathered from all over the place were not treated as human beings at all and were made to work day and night. As a result, riots broke out in some places in Dongfan.

Wei Zhongxian's attitude towards these was very clear.

Send troops to suppress!!
Anyone who participated in the riot was eventually executed.

If one wants to govern and develop the Dongfan, there will inevitably be bloodshed. For Wei Zhongxian, as long as the blood shed is not from the Ming Dynasty, it doesn't matter how much blood is shed.

"What we lack most now is time."

Sensing the changes in the two, Wei Zhongxian pointed to the map in front of him and said, "In Ryukyu, according to the news sent back by Yu Zigao, the Eastern Japanese seem to have made a big move recently. They want to take Ryukyu back."

"The victory report sent to the capital urgently must have been known by His Majesty by now. If His Majesty finds out that Ryukyu was taken away by the Japanese again, we will be held accountable." "And in the South Seas, especially Luzon, Zheng Zhilong and his men have been causing a lot of trouble, so much so that the European naval forces in the South Seas have begun to try to stir up trouble openly or covertly."

When he said this, Wei Zhongxian's eyes became sharp.

At present, the importance of Dongfan, an important maritime location, has become increasingly prominent as some developments have occurred.

"This bunch of Western barbarians are not only interested in the changes in Southeast Asia, but more importantly, they are aware of the chaos in the southeast of our dynasty." Cao Huachun said with a frown.

"These people are robbers at heart. Asking them to do business honestly and earn money bit by bit is more difficult than killing them. In their minds, they will not care about anything else if they can rob."

"That's right, we need to speed up the development of Dongfan!"

Wei Zhongxian said sternly: "We also know that asking the natives from all over the country to gather in Dongfan and ask them to work like that will cause unrest, but we must speed up!"

"If you dare let those guys take advantage of you in Dongfan, then you just wait and see. They will definitely not behave themselves along the coast of Ming Dynasty."

"You are all aware of what happened in the Nanyang countries. Dongfan is the barrier of the Ming Dynasty and the bridgehead of the Ming Dynasty to the outside world!"

"Currently, the people who migrated from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places have settled down in the prefectures, counties and cities of Dongfan, some are farming and some are working. This has also made Dongfan begin to gain popularity. We are not here to enjoy life in Dongfan, but to get things done."

Cao Lutai and Cao Huachun looked at each other, with different expressions on their faces.

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This is also why, when Wei Zhongxian did some extreme things, although they had their own thoughts, they did not go against Wei Zhongxian's will.

"The emperor is right. It's better to have it yourself than to have it from your parents."

Wei Zhongxian looked at the two with some emotion and said, "Since our power in Dongfan has been growing, there are some roads where we have no choice but to keep moving forward. There is no way back at all."

"Especially since Tianjin opened to the sea, the Western Barbarians have continued to move northwards. They must have learned a lot about our Ming Dynasty along the way."

"You all know the intelligence we collected in Bengang and other places. Some Western merchants do not even try to hide their greed for the wealth of our Ming Dynasty!"

"Everything else is easy to solve, except the manpower needed for the shipyard, which may be difficult to solve." Upon hearing this, Cao Lutai looked at Wei Zhongxian and said.

"The navy led by Yu Zigao will be stationed in the Ryukyu area for a long time to ensure the stability of Ryukyu and prepare for future taxation. But the Dongfan side..."

"You don't need to worry about that."

Wei Zhongxian waved his hand and interrupted, "We have submitted a secret report to the emperor, which mentioned this matter. The emperor will solve this matter for us."

"But before the manpower arrives in Dongfan, the construction of those newly built shipyards must be accelerated, so that they can start shipbuilding as soon as the manpower arrives."

"With the precious land of Nanyang, there is no shortage of wood for shipbuilding. Industries such as smelting and forging have also developed in Dongfan. As long as there are enough people, we can build ships continuously!"

For Wei Zhongxian, at the moment, he not only had to guard Dongfan and Ryukyu, but also had to speed up his infiltration into Southeast Asia.

As Zheng Zhilong and his gang were active in the waters of Luzon and other places, Wei Zhongxian discovered that the maritime forces of the European countries in Southeast Asia, although seemingly strong and occupying many important locations, were not as strong as they had imagined. The key was that the situation in Southeast Asia was not something they could control.

(End of this chapter)