A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 105 The First Voyage to the West
Lan Yu once again got on horseback and set foot on the grassland he was familiar with.

The fresh wind mixed with the fragrance of green grass blew his hair.

Looking at the boundless green field, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and uncontrollable excitement spread in his heart. He was like a free bird, finally escaping from prison.

In the fourth year of Yongle, one hundred thousand Ming troops came out of the Great Wall.

Almost at the same time, Prince Zhu Gaochi was also ordered to inspect Beijing and began to supervise the construction of Beijing City, rebuilding the palace, thickening the city wall, building a drainage system, etc.

At this time, in Nanyang, a Chen family inexplicably emerged.With their financial resources, they quickly occupied a place in Luzon's trade.Now that several years have passed, the Chen family's trade has become more developed, and their leader Chen Su is known as the richest man under Xu Chailao.

This also led to inevitable conflicts between the two sides.

Xu Chailao finally realized that these guys were not just here to do business and resell goods, they were here to take root in Nanyang.But now he regrets it too much, so he can only secretly exert his efforts to compete with the Chen family and strive to maintain his "leading trade" position.

On Luzon Island, a business war broke out and was in full swing.

On the mainland, huge ships are floating in the coastal ports.
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Ma He stood on the huge ship, high-spirited. This was his dream moment.

As if to grudge against Chen Youliang who was on Poyang Lake back then, these ships were built to be extremely huge and were the culmination of the wisdom of the craftsmen.

They are as wide as land, as tall as mountains, and look like small islands moving on the sea, which is daunting.

After looking at the people below the ship who were busy transporting various supplies, he spread out the map and confirmed his navigation route for the last time.

Standing next to him was a lean old man who was not too young. He was the leader of the guide team assigned to him by his superiors. He had the experience of sailing to the South Seas.

"Sir, you see, we set off from Liujiagang and go to Taiping Port, Changle County, Fujian Province to rest for a while. When the northeast wind comes, we will use the wind to sail into Nanyang. We will first go to Luzon to inspect the archipelago, and then sail to Champa again. Rest and recuperate...then sail away, passing through Ceylon, Ganbali and other places, and finally reach Guli."

The man pointed along the map with his hand and kept talking. His face was full of wrinkles and his body was dark and stooped. He looked like a monkey. Standing next to a tall horse and pointing out the country, it looked a bit ridiculous.But Ma He didn't mean the slightest bit of joking. He listened with a serious expression and nodded from time to time.

This man's name is Yan Haitao, and he was selected from dozens of old sailors who were still alive in his family.When he was young, he wandered on the sea, but the sea was banned, which almost made him lose his craft. Later, smuggling began, and his shadow was indispensable in the Yan family's team. This time, he was recommended by the Duke of Yue, Yan Ya, to take charge of this voyage. The leader of the guide team.

He does have a lot of experience in voyages, although it is limited to the Nanyang area, but this does not mean that he is useless at other times. As an old expert at sea, he can use it for observing weather, commanding navigation, distinguishing north and south, etc. Fuck him.

Moreover, you can’t just kick people off the ship as soon as you leave the South China Sea, right?
At that time, his mission will change.

Ma He didn't know that his guide still had such thoughts. He just nodded when he heard this:

"That's right. This is my first voyage to the West. The main purpose is to visit various countries, accumulate experience, deliver edicts, and at the same time observe the benefits of the voyage. It doesn't have to go too far. If I don't want to canonize the prince of Guli as king, I won't do it. I am willing to sail out of Nanyang. This is my first time on such a large-scale voyage. If I make any mistakes, I will be unworthy of His Majesty's kindness."

He stared at the map, wandered for a while, and finally nodded heavily to confirm that the navigation was correct.

Looking back, the loading and unloading of the ship has basically been completed at this time, and the sailors are performing their duties, waiting for the order from the main ship.

On the main ship, all the soldiers' eyes were focused on Ma He.Looking at the eyes around him, Ma He felt proud, smiled heartily, and shouted loudly:

"Sail, set sail!"

The dull bell rang suddenly, which was the symbol of departure.

Dozens of people shouted slogans, turned the rudder, and the sails that covered the sky were raised, casting large shadows.

Countless huge ships faced the rising sun and sailed towards the boundless sea.
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"Horses and voyages to the Western Seas have epoch-making significance. It was the prelude to the Age of Discovery and an exploration launched by the Ming Empire to the outside world, and it achieved excellent results."

"Huge profits supported Emperor Yongle, accomplished many deeds that could lead to the overthrow of a dynasty, and created the great achievements of an emperor."

"It is a pity that Emperor Yongle did not show his wisdom and prowess in this matter. Huge profits were locked into the royal treasury. The ministers in the court and the coastal families got nothing, but the country still wanted Bearing the high cost of shipbuilding will also cut off the possibility of continuing maritime trade."

"And the Ming Empire's forbidden sea has never been abolished. The supreme emperor has no intention of sharing the profits with anyone."

"Finally, after the death of the powerful enough emperor, the royal family faced backlash from the civil servants. This time, even the nobles who had always been relied upon to fight against the civil servants did not side with them."

"On the eve of the advent of the Age of Discovery, the Ming Empire lowered its sails forever."

"Fortunately, the aristocratic families along the coast were not very obedient. Not long after, a huge wave of smuggling began to rise, led by the Yan family in the southeast. The huge profits made the noble families in the entire southeast of the Ming Dynasty unite together. , officials who serve here have only two ways to go -"

"One way is to get an extremely generous gift, choose to pretend to be deaf and mute, and cooperate with the nobles."

"One thing is that it was drowned by the vast impeachment memorials and ruined ten years of hard work."

"Even if an emperor tried to open the sea and get a share of this wave, he finally found out in despair that they could only receive a small amount of tax from the small traders, and the tax amount from the wealthy merchants would always be zero."

"And in the face of the mighty power of civil servants, even the emperor can only compromise."

"Economy determines politics. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the southeastern part of the Ming Dynasty was almost out of control."

"The taxes the emperor received from Jiangnan were only a small part of what flowed through the fingers of wealthy merchants."

"As if she pitied him."

"However, looking at it from the perspective of future generations, it would be a bit of hindsight. At least in that era, Ma He's voyages to the West were of extremely important significance. It symbolized the prosperity of the Ming Empire and China once again reproduced the legend of all nations coming to court. "

——"Jia Jianming's taste of the Ming Dynasty"

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(End of this chapter)