Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 261 The Industrial Revolution of Ming Dynasty

Hou Xiaosong, with tens of thousands of Japanese bandits under his command, landed from Busan in the south of Koryo Island to carry out subsequent advancement and occupation.

So far, tens of thousands of Japanese bandits led by Hou Xiaosong have occupied the cities of Busan, Yangshan, Gaomi, Changwon, and Ulju.

The total of these cities does not cover a large area, only a few hundred miles in radius. This is because the number of Japanese bandits is too small and they cannot disperse too much.

The number of troops determines the strategic depth a large army can achieve. Just like when Japanese pirates invaded China in later generations, they only gained a foothold in Northeast China and North China and could no longer advance.

Therefore, whether a country has a vast territory and population is an important criterion for determining its potential and strategic significance.

The ambitions of the Japanese people are indeed not small, but their abilities do not match their ambitions, and it is the same this time.

After the Japanese state was captured by the Ming Dynasty, Xiaosong turned his target to Goryeo, because Goryeo was also a small country and its national strength was not strong. If the overall strength of the Japanese state had been preserved, Goryeo might have fallen by now.

But before the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese country had been basically defeated, and the total number of people who fled from the Japanese country was only tens of thousands. Even if Hou Xiaosong and the others had a large amount of muskets and ammunition in their hands, they were extremely short of manpower. Unable to expand the base, we can only occupy a base first and hope to slowly develop and grow in the future.

It's just that they forgot that Goryeo was still a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Seeing the younger brother who followed them being bullied, how could the Ming Dynasty sit back and do nothing? It's nothing more than taking this opportunity to ask for some favors.

Xu Zengshou led his troops to Goryeo. After resting for only two days, he began to move south, starting from Pyongyang to Busan and other places. It was more than a thousand miles away and the march probably took nearly a month.

"Shrink our troops and call back all the armies. I will fight the Ming army in Liangshan for a decisive battle!"

After signing the treaty with Ming Dynasty, Goryeo has been completely bound to Ming Dynasty. King Zhongsu knew that he would completely depend on Ming Dynasty's face to decide whether he could live comfortably, so he generously expressed that Xu Zengshou would lead the army south this time. , all the marching baggage was borne by Goryeo.

Xu Zengshou was furious. It was his first time to lead an army alone. If he suffered too much damage, it would definitely affect his future, so he launched a counterattack without mercy. In just one and a half days, more than 6,000 Japanese bandits were annihilated. Seeing that something was wrong, the remaining more than 10,000 Japanese bandits fled back to Liangshan City in panic.

Xu Zengshou led his troops to the foot of Liangshan City. When he saw the Japanese soldiers on top of the city holding firecrackers at his army, he sneered, "You don't know your own capabilities."

Ikkyu Chunzong was stunned and speechless. He knew that Hou Xiaosong could no longer persuade him.

On the other hand, Hou Xiaosong and Ikkyu Sunzong were under great pressure. Although Hou Xiaosong had more than 40,000 troops in total, he knew that he had little chance of winning against Xu Zengshou's 20,000 Ming army.

"I have had enough, and I will never run away! I will fight the Ming army to the death!"

After two failed negotiations, Ikkyu Sunzon returned to the Japanese bandit camp and once persuaded Hou Xiaosong to leave Goryeo and continue to flee, but Hou Xiaosong had become crazy.

If you encounter a veteran like Lan Yu, Hou Xiaosong's clumsy ambush tactics will not have much effect, but Xu Zengshou still lost hundreds of people in his hasty response.

"Escape? Where else can we escape? As long as the Ming Dynasty is still here, where is our place in this world?"

The horrific scenes of the Ming Dynasty's invincible attack on the Japanese country, pushing forward all the way and raging artillery fire, are still vivid in my mind. When I wake up from a dream at midnight, Xiaosong is still often awakened, and he wakes up covered in cold sweat.

After waiting nervously and anxiously, the Ming army finally arrived. Hou Xiaosong finally got his wits about him. He sent 20,000 troops in advance to lurk on the path the Ming army must pass, and launched an ambush on the top of the mountain to take advantage of the terrain.

After hearing the news that Xu Zengshou's army had begun to move south, Hou Xiaosong was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He racked his brains and couldn't think of a way to solve it.

Then he waved his hand, and twenty thunderbolt cannons were fired in unison. In just two rounds of bombing, Liangshan City had been breached, and then the Ming army was completely liquidated. Fighting and chasing, Xu Zengshou only spent two months. In a short time, the main force of Japanese bandits in Liangshan City was wiped out, and the remaining small fish and shrimps had no possibility of causing trouble.

He was originally a puppet supported by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. He only had the title of royal emperor and his own abilities were not outstanding.

Xu Zengshou did not have much experience in leading troops in battles, but he had absolute advantages in weapons and equipment. There would be no suspense about the outcome of this battle, so he did not feel too much pressure.

Or after entering Goryeo, he directly changed his name and joined King Zhongsu honestly. He had a chance to survive by being low-key, but he missed them all. It can only be said that everything now is his own fault.

After the war, Xu Zengshou settled the army in Busan and led his guards back to Pyongyang to convey the results of the war.

After the fall of Japan, they could have fled further to America and other places, but Hou Xiaosong was short-sighted and plunged into Goryeo, which was closer to the Ming Dynasty.

Liangshan City is surrounded by hills and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Hou Xiaosong chose this place for the decisive battle because there was no other way.

Dao Yan once told King Zhongsu that it would take less than half a year for the Ming Dynasty to help him regain all the lost territory. This was indeed the case. Putting aside the time for the Ming army to march, it even took less than three months.

The Ming Dynasty was so powerful and terrifying that King Zhongsu knew that the Ming Dynasty should not be provoked.

After the war in Goryeo was over, Daoyan began to return to the Ming Dynasty to resume his life.

...

Cao Wei, who was in the Ming Dynasty, was never idle. He, Xie Jin and others spent more than half a year and finally successfully improved the automatic rifle on the basis of the manual rifle, which brought the Ming Dynasty's military strength to a higher level.

Moreover, the overall facilities of the aircraft are also more mature. Not only can the aircraft's emergency escape device be quantified and produced, but the performance of the aircraft itself is also being optimized time and time again, allowing it to fly faster and higher.

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed, and Zhu Chu's African plantation has achieved considerable results.

Looking at the endless cotton inventory in the warehouse, Zhu Chu grinned from the corner of his mouth to the base of his ears.

"These are not cotton, they are money!"

With the results in hand, Zhu Chu was ready to return to the Ming Dynasty to at least tell Cao Wei about the success of the plantation.

Zhu Ming ordered all the cotton to be loaded onto the ship, and then set sail back to Daming.

After more than five months, when Zhu Zhen's fleet returned to Daming, it was already the beginning of spring of another year.

this day,
Cao Wei came out of his home and saw a person face to face. He showed his white teeth and called himself, "Grand Master."

Cao Wei blinked and finally recognized that it was Zhu Zhen, and then he couldn't help laughing.

When Zhu Chu left Daming two years ago, he was still fair and fair, but now Zhu Chu looks like he has just been fished out of the stew pot, with his whole body exuding a sauce color.

"When did you come back, kid?" Cao Wei said with a smile. "I just arrived in Yingtian last night. Why don't I come to see you early this morning?" Zhu Chu took two more steps, and Cao Wei felt that he really smelled the smell of braised meat on Zhu Chu's body.

"It seems that cotton cultivation in Africa is going well."

"Hey, Grand Master, how do you know?"

"If the planting didn't go well, you wouldn't talk to me with such a smile."

Cao Wei waved to Zhu Chu, then turned and walked inside, "Come on, come in and talk."

When they arrived at the lobby, Zhu Xi couldn't wait to speak as soon as he sat down,
"Master, you don't know how dirty those African natives are. They are not as clean as the cattle and sheep we raise in the Ming Dynasty..."

"There is a local cotton variety in Africa. The growth cycle is shorter, only more than three months, and the quality of silk cotton is not bad. In the second batch, I replaced most of the cotton with African cotton..."

"Africans don't know about the Ming Dynasty. I have not yet contacted the African imperial court. I am only looking for indigenous people on the fringes. Now there are two plantations, with nearly 40,000 people working..."

Cao Wei was not familiar with the land of Africa, so he listened quietly to Zhu Zhen's talk about what he saw and heard in Africa.

"Hey, the physical fitness of those African natives is indeed good. As long as they are full and beaten, they work extremely efficiently. They are born to pick cotton."

Finally, Zhu Ming concluded.

Cao Wei listened and couldn't help laughing again. Zhu Ming had found the instructions for use by African natives.

Thinking back to the zero-dollar purchases and riots in the Chou Kingdom in later generations, Cao Wei felt that such people seemed to have no order at all and had to be suppressed with violence. However, the Chou Country's party was too fierce and the Kunlun slaves took advantage.

"You said His Majesty is also interested in growing cotton in Africa?" Cao Wei asked.

"Yes, His Majesty said it himself when I left two years ago. After meeting the Grand Master, I will go to the palace to see His Majesty soon."

"Yeah, okay." Cao Wei nodded, "Bring some gifts when you go, your Majesty has given birth to a son."

"Ah?" Zhu Ming was surprised, then scratched his head, "Why did no one tell me about this when I got home last night?"

Cao Wei smiled and said: "You came back after two years. Their thoughts are all on you, how can they think of anything else?"

"Hahaha, that's right..."

While the two were talking, half a day passed unknowingly in the morning, and Zhu Chu stayed in Cao's house to have dinner. During this period, Zhu Chu met Cao Wei's youngest daughter, Cao Yin. Now she is almost three years old, and she can call her uncle and uncle obediently. Like a small and exquisite porcelain doll, lovable.

As a daughter slave, Zhu Min saw such a cute Zhu Yin and wanted to arrange a baby marriage with Cao Wei and make Zhu Yin his son.

After hearing this, Cao Wei almost didn't let him finish his meal. Cao Lin was already a special case and it was impossible for him to interfere in Cao Yin's future life.

"Master, Master, I won't say anything anymore. You asked me to finish the meal. You don't know that there is very little food in Africa and no seasoning. In the past two years, I feel like I have lived like a savage." "

Cao Wei then left him to finish the meal. As soon as Zhu Chu put down the bowl and chopsticks, Cao Wei said:

"Since you still want to see His Majesty, it's better to go sooner rather than later. Go now."

Zhu Ming was about to cry but had no tears. After waving his hands to greet Cao Yin, Zhu Hanming and others, he left Cao's house with a sigh.

"Let his family stay away from my daughter from now on," Cao Wei muttered with a dark face.

It is said that daughters are caring little cotton-padded jackets, and Cao Wei is no exception. Cao Lin was born when she was a child, while Cao Yin was cute and cute, and she grew up being pampered by her family.

Seeing Cao Wei's childish look, Zhu Hanming burst out laughing.

"Look, your father is reluctant to let you get married in the future." He said to the ignorant little Cao Yin.

Little Cao Yin didn't understand what it meant to get married, but she probably understood that her father didn't want to leave by herself, so she waved her little hands and said:

"If I don't get married, if I don't get married, I will always stay with my parents."

Cao Wei grinned, his daughter was getting cuter and cuter every time she looked at her...

Zhu Xi went to the palace in the afternoon. I don’t know what the two said, but the next day Zhu Xiongying began to prepare to mobilize troops...

In the days that followed, Zhu and shopkeeper Zhou recruited a large number of workers to build stores continuously.

In a whole year, Shopkeeper Zhou has transformed from a small-scale ready-made clothing shop into the leader of Yingtianfu silk and ready-made clothing industry. In Yingtianfu alone, he has opened no less than 20 silk shops and ready-made clothing shops. .

Shopkeeper Zhou's business can be so smooth, which is inseparable from Zhu Chu's identity. Even though Zhu Chu is no longer the King of Min, he has a close relationship with Cao Wei. Some people may not look at Zhu Chu's face, but they must The face of Grand Master Cao Wei depends on the face of Emperor Zhu Xiongying.

Cao Wei didn't ask how much cotton Zhu Chu brought back from Africa, but Zhu Chu told Cao Wei that after selling the cotton in various ways, he had nearly three hundred thousand taels of silver in his hands.

Adding in Shopkeeper Zhou's share, the expenses of the fleet and all accompanying personnel, as well as the money to support the African natives, it is conservatively estimated that this trip to Africa has generated more than one million taels of revenue!
Regarding this, Cao Wei couldn't help but be speechless. No wonder the Chou Country in his previous life wanted to open plantations in Africa. This was too violent.

This is just two plantations, the profits generated in just two years. If the scale of the plantations is expanded, how much profit can Daming make in Africa?

However, as the textile industry in the Ming Dynasty gradually developed, Zhu Zhen encountered a problem, that is, the efficiency of the textile machines in the Ming Dynasty was not high enough.

Naturally, Zhu Zhen came to Cao Wei again with several carriages filled with gifts.

Cao Wei didn't shirk it. It was not difficult to improve textile machines. It would be beneficial to Ming Dynasty's business and development. He was still willing to help.

It only took more than a month for Cao Wei to successfully improve the textile machine. It is not complicated to say. What Cao Wei improved was the Jenny textile machine that only appeared in the 18th century.

The original Daming loom used horizontal single-spindle spinning, and its efficiency was higher than that of manual work, but it was very limited. However, the Jenny loom used vertical multi-spindle spinning, and the textile efficiency was directly increased by more than ten times!
It is no exaggeration to say that the Ming Dynasty, which has steam engines, steel mills, trains, jenny textile looms, and airplanes, is currently undergoing a different industrial revolution. Soon, this revolution will once again affect the entire world!
(End of this chapter)