I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 666 Australia Continent
After the Mobei War was over, Yu Kecheng of Heilongjiang also took over the east of Beihai.

The areas under the jurisdiction of Mobei Capital and Beihai Capital have been preliminarily determined in the new map drawn by the Cabinet and Privy Council.

The area under the jurisdiction of Mobei Capital was larger than that of Mongolia in later generations.

Because of the extra land of Tangnu Ulianghai (Republic of Tuva), the envoys of Zasak Tuhan and King Tangnu Ulianghai arrived in Nanjing almost immediately. They were willing to surrender and submit to the Ming Emperor, even if Even if the Ming Dynasty wants to station troops and build cities in the two places, it can also be done.

The cabinet has thoroughly studied the alliance flag system implemented by the Manchu Qing Dynasty against Mongolia, and the new Mobei Dusi almost also refers to this alliance flag system.

Moreover, the Grand Lama of Mobei must be formally canonized to achieve the purpose of controlling religious public opinion.

The cabinet is now petitioning to build a new temple in Nanjing. The emperor does not need to pay for it, and the national treasury can allocate money to build a Buddhist temple for the great lama of Mobei.

Zhu Yijiong thought for a while, then wrote and wrote: "Yes."

This cannot be regarded as a waste of people and money, it is just to build a new temple, and it is also for better control of Mobei Mongolia in the future.

Anyway, a little repair is enough, and it does not need to be as grand as the Great Baoen Temple. Moreover, building a new temple can also provide people with an opportunity to make money, and it can also consume the silver coins hoarded by the national treasury and stimulate Nanjing's economy.

You can refer to the Mobei War to stimulate economic development in the north and alleviate the soaring domestic prices, which can achieve multiple goals with one stone.

After the war, the area under the jurisdiction of the Heilongjiang Capital Division also became larger, and it expanded westward directly along the upper tributaries of the Heilongjiang River. From now on, all the places that could be reached would be included in the jurisdiction of the Heilongjiang Capital Division.

Beihai Dusi is farther west, encompassing the entire Beihai Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Asia.

Not only is it a reserve of fresh water resources, Beihai Lake has a very complex and rich tributary water system, which means that in the future, Beihai Dusi can directly go to any place in Asia through the huge tributaries of Beihai Lake.

The Cabinet and the Privy Council are already making plans to establish political and social stability in Beihai Lake first. After the immigrants have been recuperated for two years, they will continue to attack the west, all the way to the Yenisei River Basin.

It was really that the Cossacks were too easy to defeat, and it took almost no effort at all. Such a weak Cossacks actually occupied such a vast area of ​​Siberia.

This is simply a waste of natural resources!

Of course, the most important thing is the Beihai Lake area, which has many expensive animal skins, and even seals. One of these things was caught by the Ming army in the north and sent to Nanjing to present to the emperor.

Anyway, Zhu Yijiong was shocked when he saw it. There were actually seals in Beihai Lake!
Aren’t all seals in the Arctic Ocean?

Although the size is a bit small (Baikal freshwater seal), much smaller than the impression, it is indeed a seal.

The emperor liked seals, and those merchants were like wolves that smelled the smell of blood. They immediately began to plan to open up a trading station in Beihai Dusi and speculate on the seal skins.

Emperor Zhu had committed an evil act for no reason, and he didn't know if these freshwater seals could survive until future generations without becoming extinct.

The current northern territory of the Ming Dynasty, if divided according to European logic, can actually be regarded as accounting for two-thirds of the vast Siberia.

In the vast land further north, not to mention the Cossacks, not even the Sakha people stay here.

……

The topic of the Mobei War and the title of king with a different surname did not last long in Nanjing.

"The matter of this big island in the South China Sea will be completely handed over to Kang Qing." Zhu Yijiong held a map in his hand, but it was not drawn by the Privy Council, but bought from Europeans.

The map not only roughly depicts countries on all continents around the world, but also marks a vast continent in the southernmost sea of ​​China.

That's right, many years ago, when the Age of Discovery just came, some scholars in Europe suspected that there was an undiscovered continent (Antarctica) in the southernmost part of the sea.

They even sketched out the imaginary map of this continent on the map.

However, what Zhu Yijiong is looking for is not Antarctica. Antarctica is too far away from China. Even if it can be reached, it may not be possible to come back alive, and it is not of much value (for now).

What he really wanted Kang Zifei to find was Australia, which is located between Antarctica and the Oceania Islands.

Australia's name originally came from Latin, which means the southern continent.

Because it was the Spanish who first discovered Australia, but the Spaniards thought this was the Antarctic, and then... they forgot about "Antarctica". It was not until the decline of national power and the British captured Manila decades later in another time and space that the Australian continent recorded by the Spanish was discovered.

It took forty years, and by the end of the 18th century, the British finally followed the clues and found the Australian mainland, and began to exile criminals here.

By the way, there is also a rather outrageous Dutchman. These guys discovered Australia more than a hundred years ago and New Zealand eighty years ago.

And then... they forget.

To be honest, if Kang Zifei hadn't accidentally discovered this map and bought it back to present to the emperor, even Zhu Yijiong himself would have almost forgotten that there is an undiscovered Australian continent to the south.

No, if Ming Dynasty finds out, it will definitely not be called Australia.

Kang Zifei cupped his hands and said, "I will work hard to find this big island in the south for Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijiong smiled and said: "Kang Qing doesn't have to work too hard. Do your best and obey fate. Even a big island will not escape. You can always find it if you look hard for it. I will give Kang Qing some information here. If you can really find it, If you get this island, you will be granted the title of Duke of Jin, and it will be a matter of hereditary succession."

In this way, Kang Zifei, the Marquis of Donghai in the Ming Dynasty, had just celebrated the New Year this year and had not even had a good rest at home. He led the fleet to set off again and went south to find large overseas islands for the emperor.

However, Kang Zifei was full of confidence. In the past few years of traveling to and from Yinzhou, in addition to the Sandalwood Islands, he successively discovered Midway Islands, Dadong Islands, Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands and other islands.

Although except for Midway Island, everything else was basically discovered by the Spanish in advance, but it was still of great significance to Kang Zifei's Royal Pioneer Expedition Fleet.

Now, it is just an undiscovered large island in the south, and it also has a general direction (marked by the emperor). It can always be found in two or three years at most.

Kang Zifei's fleet is setting out in the beginning of spring. He plans to stop at the port in Taiwan Prefecture for supplies, load some goods along the way, then go to the Luzon Governor's Mansion for trade and resale, and finally go south to the Yecheng Governor's Mansion.

The supply points along the way have already been arranged, and we did not forget to take the opportunity to engage in official trade.

Today's Kang Zifei is no longer the ordinary maritime businessman he was back then. Not only does he have the title of Marquis of the East China Sea, but he also has the reputation of being an imperial envoy.

Although from a practical point of view, Kang Zifei did not hold any official position, he was summoned immediately from Nanjing to Taiwan, and then to the two overseas governor's offices in Luzon and Yecheng, as long as he handed in a greeting card.

In terms of official status and connections, even a serious imperial envoy minister is somewhat unable to reach Kang Zifei's level.

Moreover, today's royal pioneering fleet is no longer limited to the trade between Yinzhou and Yinzhou. Even the Yinzhou trading fleet to which Kang Zifei belongs is no longer the only one. The imperial court has already spent money to form another one. branch.

Strictly speaking, this newly formed fleet is the real Yinzhou trading fleet, and it is a public-private partnership between the treasury and internal funds. Each of them accounts for half of the profits, which is consistent with the tax distribution of the overseas governor's office.

The fleet led by Kang Zifei, which was the first to develop Yinzhou in the Ming Dynasty, was actually the emperor's private trading fleet, because it was all funded by internal funds, and the business scope followed the emperor's wishes.

While making money from trade, they also expanded foreign colonies, looking for overseas islands everywhere and planting the flag of the Ming Dynasty on them.

By the way, not only did the imperial court set up a special official trade fleet to and from Yinzhou, but also to Liaodong, Japan, and North Korea. The imperial court also funded the establishment of a trade fleet.

In particular, several newly opened ports in Liaodong have now been officially monopolized by the imperial court.

It would not work without a monopoly, because civilian ships were not willing to go to Liaodong at all. The distance here was long and the profits from sea trade were low. Over time, it became a world dominated by imperial ships.

Even the official ships of the imperial court went there mainly to stimulate immigration and maintain material supplies for the local Han people.

To put it bluntly, they are losing money to maintain the immigrant population in Liaodong and monopolizing trade in order not to lose too much.

Fortunately, at this stage, relying on Liaodong's fur and forestry industries, the two can basically maintain a balance of payments and even a slight surplus.

It is also for this reason that the cabinet can send a ship there so readily.

But after a few more decades, there will gradually be no money to be made here, and some ministers will feel that Liaodong is losing money, and then encourage the emperors behind them to slowly withdraw the official ships.

But by that time, the population here will have almost multiplied. With more people, civilian ships will naturally come.

(End of this chapter)