Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 353 Second Voyage to the West

"That's an idea."

At night, as Zhu Gaoxu returned to Chunhe Hall, Xichang, who recorded the conversations between envoys from various countries and chieftains, also handed the information into his hands.

This includes Mu Tu's wish to retain an army of 3,000 people and other chieftains' views on returning to the country.

Zhu Gaoxu thought it was okay for Mu Tu to retain three thousand troops. After all, Mu's mining of gold mines required guards, and the mined gold mines had to be handed over to the court according to the ten taxes of the mining tax. There was nothing wrong with this.

Moreover, the philosophy of the Naxi people is also convenient for the Ming Dynasty to govern Duogan. Letting them go to Duogan will not only make Duogan peaceful, but also easier to govern.

As for the information about the other little chieftains, Zhu Gaoxu did not read it, but focused on the attitudes of the four major chieftains in Guizhou, the three major chieftains in Yunnan, and the three major chieftains in Guangxi.

Judging from their conversations, among the ten chieftains, except for Mu's chieftain who agreed to conditionally change his native land and return to his hometown, the other chieftains tended to maintain the status quo and refused to accept his return to their native land.

It’s not surprising when you think about it. Let’s not mention the Sizhou Tian family, the largest chieftain. Just talk about the Shuixi’an family, Shuidong Song family and Bozhou Yang family. Even if they don’t own nearly a million acres of land, tens of thousands of soldiers, and a population of 100,000 under their control, There are tens or even millions of them.

It is more difficult to get them to hand over their governance and military power obediently than to persuade the Tatars in the north to become obedient people.

"After all, the only way to go is to use troops..."

After about a word, the door finally opened, and the father and son stood up and came closer.

With the support of matchlocks and cannons, it is difficult for the southwestern chieftains to show the tenacity of Yang Yinglong in the "Battle of Bozhou".

When Zhu Gaoxu saw Wang Yan, he stepped forward and asked.

If the Ming army had cannons during the Battle of Bozhou, then Yang Yinglong would be considered durable if he could last for half a year.

"No, I just arrived..."

The direction he indicated was to a side hall, but the door there was locked and there was a female officer guarding the door.

"Sister, I've been waiting for you for a long time, how are you doing now?"

Looking at the closed door, Zhu Gaoxu felt a little impatient. It was the impatience of being unable to control unknown things.

They did not go in rashly, but waited for a few breaths before they saw the pale Queen Xu walking out with Guo Yan's support.

Wang Yan vaguely reminded Zhu Gaoxu to ask Guo Yan, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this.

But whether it hurt or not, Zhu Di and the others couldn't tell.

Ever since Empress Xu was diagnosed with cancer, Guo Yan had taken care of her every day during the day and rested exhausted when she returned to the palace at night.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yi Shiha: "Please let Zhang Fengyi take care of He'er and Qi'er for a while."

Zhu Di stepped forward with concern, but Queen Xu laughed at him: "Such an adult doesn't know how to be ashamed."

"Where are mother and Yan'er?" Zhu Gaoxu looked around, while Zhu Di didn't say anything. He just raised his chin and indicated the direction.

Although Queen Xu looked pale, she still showed a kind smile when she saw Zhu Gaoxu, which made Zhu Di a little jealous and stepped forward.

"The Crown Princess is taking care of you during this period, and the situation is much better. It's not convenient for me to tell you the specific slave."

Just as Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, footsteps came from the palace door, and Wang Yan's voice sounded in the palace.

Zhu Gaoxu did not take the four major chieftains of Guizhou seriously. What he cared about was whether the imperial court's finances could support the completion of this war.

Queen Xu's symptoms were exudation, which was also bloody, and every time the exudation was accompanied by pain.

"If we start to reform Guizhou in one fell swoop, will this have too much impact?"

They took a look at the copper basin, which contained some blood and unknown mucus.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty invites you to a family banquet at Qianqing Palace."

Yi Shiha asked worriedly, and Zhu Gaoxu also glanced at the map behind him and muttered: "If you break it, break it!"

Half an hour later, when Zhu Gaoxu arrived at Qianqing Palace, he only saw Zhu Di, who had an unsightly look on his face, but not Empress Xu and Guo Yan.

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di looked at Guo Yan, but Guo Yan pursed her lips, as if to say that Queen Xu had told her not to say anything.

"Your Majesty, please feel free to go and have your meal." Yi Shiha returned the greeting, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded and followed Wang Yan away.

When he turned around, he saw Wang Yan bowing.

Zhu Gaoxu did not disturb her and went to rest in other Fengyi halls these days.

After closing the letter, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yi Shiha aside: "Let Yang Wen prepare to go to Sichuan to train new soldiers."

The two fathers and sons have looked through books to check the symptoms of breast cancer.

This kind of impatience is not only his, but Zhu Di's too.

"First deliver cement to Sichuan, Guizhou and other places to help them raise the city walls, and at the same time, store more food."

Obviously, she saw Zhu Di's struggle for favor, but she did not reveal her illness in her words.

"When will His Highness plan to take action against the chieftains in Guizhou?" Yi Shiha asked worriedly, but Zhu Gaoxu said, "Not too soon."

He sat next to Zhu Di. The father and son said nothing, just waiting quietly for Queen Xu and others to come out.

"Each guard station needs to store enough food for at least half a year, so that it can last until the court's reinforcements arrive."

"How is my mother?"

"Has Gao Xu been here for a long time?"

No one else knows about that kind of pain, only Empress Xu can feel it. But when others ask her, she always smiles and says, "It's okay, it's not too painful."

Counting the time, the couple hadn't seen each other for more than ten days.

"Pass the meal around."

Guo Yan ordered Wang Yan who was not far away. Wang Yan immediately ordered the meal to be passed on.

Not long after they were seated, dishes were served one after another, but most of them were light vegetarian dishes.

"Didn't I ask you to get some meat and vegetables? What are you doing..."

Looking at the light food on the table, Queen Xu looked at Wang Yan angrily.

Wang Yan lowered his head, and Zhu Di also comforted Queen Xu: "Gao Xu and I are used to eating delicacies from the Tianshan Mountains every day. It's good to have a change of taste today. I asked Wang Yan to do this."

"You are delicacies from the mountains and seas, but Gao Xu is not." Empress Xu pinched Zhu Di and talked about Zhu Gaoxu's difficulties: "I heard that Chunhe Palace only eats three to five meals a day, and Gao Xu only eats so much for a person as big as Gao Xu. How can it be done?"

"Mom, don't blame me." Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "Although I only have three or five meals, I still have two meat and three vegetables."

"There are only three or four people in my place on weekdays. There is no need to cook too much. As long as the food is comfortable, I don't have any preference for certain meals."

"You don't have a preference?" Zhu Di chirped: "You have been a picky eater since you were a child..."

"My son is not picky about food." Zhu Gaoxu replied: "It's just that every time you ask the chef to cook, you only cook what you and your mother like to eat, so my eldest brother, third brother and I are not used to it."

"Haha..." Queen Xu was amused by the father and son, but after thinking about it, she felt that Zhu Gaoxu was right, so she nodded and said:

"Children are picky eaters. Most of the time, parents only cook what they like to eat, so parents are not picky eaters. And what parents like to eat may not necessarily be liked by children."

"My mother is still sensible, and she deserves to be a girl." Zhu Gaoxu acted like a good boy, picked up the vegetables and put them in Queen Xu's bowl. Queen Xu smiled very happily, and her face regained some color.

Zhu Di scratched his beard and muttered: "That's what you want to say. What your grandpa likes to eat, I don't like to eat either."

"So don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." Zhu Gaoxu also gave Zhu Di some chopstick dishes.

"You are so talkative..." Zhu Di muttered, but he looked at Zhu Gaoxu's physique again and shut his mouth instantly.

But then he thought: "That's not right. How can I be afraid of my son?"

He originally wanted to teach Zhu Gaoxu a few words, but when he saw his sister Xu picked up some pieces of tofu for him, he immediately happily ate it.

The eating behavior of the two father and son was not very elegant in this era. If people like Xie Jin saw it, they might think that they were vulgar again.

Empress Xu, on the other hand, looked at the two of them immersed in eating, both in her heart and on her face showing happiness.

Guo Yan kept his head down while eating, looking at Queen Xu from time to time, worried about her health.

Half an hour later, when everyone had eaten and drank, Zhu Gaoxu still did not leave. Instead, he chatted wordlessly with Queen Xu in Qianqing Palace. In the end, Zhu Di got tired of looking at him and felt that he should stay. He was driven away because he was in the way.

Regarding his possessiveness towards Queen Xu, Zhu Gaoxu estimated that if his mother hadn't needed Guo Yan's service, Zhu Di would have been able to drive Guo Yan away.

Walking out of Qianqing Palace with a bit of melancholy, Zhu Gaoxu looked far enough away, and then asked Guo Yan who sent him out: "How is mother's condition?"

"I..." Guo Yan hesitated, but finally decided to go against Empress Xu's words and tell her husband the matter.

"Mom has been leaking fluids for a while now and needs to be cleaned every hour."

Guo Yan's words made Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel weak. He felt a chill in his heart and nodded at the same time. He hugged Guo Yan and comforted him: "Thank you for your hard work during this time."

"I'm okay, it's just mother..." Guo Yan couldn't say any more. She really admired Queen Xu's behavior of enduring all the pain in her heart.

"I will find a way to deal with mother's matter, you don't have to worry."

Zhu Gaoxu said unfounded words, patted Guo Yan and kissed her on the face, and then motioned for her to go back to Qianqing Palace first.

After Guo Yan left with worries, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of Qianqing Palace silently.

For him, who has lived in two lifetimes, maternal love is different.

Although his parents divorced in middle school in his previous life, at least he felt maternal love.

Her mother in her previous life was an ordinary woman. Her appearance was not outstanding, but she worked tirelessly to cook, wash and take care of the family's daily life. She always silently guards the family and supports the happiness of the entire family with her selfless love and strong perseverance.

Although he was divorced from his father, he never let go of his concern for Zhu Gaoxu.

After I came here, I also thought about what happened to my parents who stayed in the future.

But in order to survive, he had to put down these things and fight in Bohai and Modong.

Thirteen years have passed, and he originally thought he had forgotten it, but what happened to Queen Xu made him recall his parents' love in his previous life and this life.

Mother's love is a handful of delicate sand, nurturing the child silently.

Zhu Gaoxu stopped in front of the chariot at the gate of Qianqing Palace and refused to sit on it.

"Your Highness..."

The accompanying eunuch asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head: "You go back, I can just walk back alone."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and walked back to Chunhe Palace, recalling every moment with Queen Xu on the way.

Most of his life was entangled with government affairs, leaving little for Guo Yan, let alone Zhu Di and Queen Xu.

Before, he was worried that she would see the clues, so he kept avoiding him, but she persisted in caring for him.

Now she is very likely to leave. If she really leaves, what will she do...

Zhu Gaoxu walked back to the Chunhe Hall in silence, and was seen by many officials and eunuchs along the way. They all saw that Zhu Gaoxu was in a bad mood and deliberately avoided him to avoid getting burned.

"Your Highness, why did you come back?!"

At the entrance of Chunhe Hall, when he learned that His Highness was coming back, Yi Shiha quickly stepped out to greet him.

He helped Zhu Gaoxu into the hall. After sitting down, he asked people to add coal to the fire wall and fire channel in the hall to raise the temperature. He also poured hot tea for Zhu Gaoxu to warm himself up.

After Zhu Gaoxu drank a cup of hot tea, he looked at Yi Shiha: "Is there any progress in Annan's affairs?"

Facing the inquiry, Yi Shiha shook his head without thinking, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't give up and asked: "I'm talking about breast cancer."

"This is what my slave answered." Yishiha lowered his head and whispered:

“Breast cancer is uncommon and extremely difficult to search for.”

"Gynecologists from hospitals from various places were transferred to Annan. They also performed several surgeries there, but the results were ineffective. They died..."

"Okay!" After hearing the word he didn't want to hear, Zhu Gaoxu angrily interrupted Yi Shiha. After taking a few deep breaths, he realized his attitude and immediately raised his head to apologize to Yi Shiha:

"I'm impatient, don't take it to heart."

"How could I blame His Highness if I know His Highness is in pain?" Yi Shiha shook his head. Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and looked at the table without any thought of dealing with the memorial.

"No one will be seen today. I will go to the front bedroom to take a rest."

He stood up and left the Chunhe Palace, and asked all the slaves in the former dormitory to leave.

His change was seen by the entire East Palace, and they couldn't help but worry about Queen Xu's health.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu returned to his normal state without being depressed for a few days. During this period, he personally took envoys from various countries to Baohua Mountain for hunting, and left the care of Queen Xu to Zhu Di and Guo Yan.

In February, Zhu Di allocated money and food, and asked Xie Jin, Yao Guangxiao and others to collect prescriptions from all over the world, and asked doctors from Yingtian Hospital and imperial doctors from Tai Hospital to jointly screen and eliminate some useless native methods.

In July of the same year, Sichuan's New Deal was implemented smoothly. The number of students enrolled in Sichuan reached more than 326,000. Sichuan's land clearing and population statistics are still continuing.

In September, more than 600 people including Xie Jin, Yao Guangxiao and others collected more than 276,400 prescriptions from all over the world. After screening by Yingtian Hospital and Tai Hospital, 61,739 practical prescriptions were finally determined. indivual.

These useful prescriptions were compiled into a book, which was given the name "Puji Prescriptions" by Zhu Di. It is the largest existing medical prescription book in ancient and modern times.

Unfortunately, the above prescription can only provide physical therapy for Queen Xu's condition, but cannot cure it.

As time enters the winter months, after nearly two years of preparation and rest, the Pacific Fleet has a huge scale of 27,000 navy, 70 treasure ships, 150 warships, and 200 horse ships. Hong Kong prepares to sail to the West.

Envoys and kings from various countries began to board the ship on the first day of winter. However, before boarding, King Manaragana of Boni was unwilling to return to his country and hoped to live in the Ming Dynasty.

After learning about it, Zhu Di rewarded him with a mansion covering an area of ​​one acre and allowed him to naturalize as a southwestern Yi.

After Manaragana learned the good news, he immediately passed the throne to his son and lived in the mansion with peace of mind.

In addition to Manaragana, the three kings of Sulu were also very reluctant to part with him. However, they were not as open-minded as Manaragana, so they just bought a mansion in Nanjing and planned to come to Nanjing to live in their old age.

"Uuuuuu——"

On the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month, at the Jiangdongmen Pier, as the horn sounded, Zhu Di also tied a cold-proof cloak on Zheng He with his own hands and patted him on the shoulder.

"This time I go to the Western Ocean, I hope you will bring back more things for me."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Zheng He will definitely fulfill his mission!" Zheng He bowed in return, and Zhu Di took a step back in relief upon seeing this.

After Zhu Di finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu also stepped forward. He ordered Zheng He:

"In this voyage to the West, if there is a country that covets the imperial fleet, you can use your hands and feet to destroy it."

"In addition, as you go west, you have to prepare enough officialdom to prepare for the third voyage to East Asia (South America) to obtain resources."

Zhu Gaoxu had made it clear to Zheng He about matters in America and Africa, especially what he needed to bring back.

In fact, Zhu Gaoxu also thought about other routes to the Americas, such as starting from Ningbo, choosing a port in the east of Japan to make corrections and replenishing fresh water and food, and then sailing eastward to the Kuroshio, striving for smooth winds and smooth water, and then controlling the latitude between 35 and 42 This is no problem for the current Ming Dynasty's navigation technology.

According to the fleet walking two hundred miles a day in the warm North Pacific current, it would take about fifty days to reach the east coast of North America.

As for coming back, it will be easy. You can come back by taking the Central Pacific Ocean Current, which is the route of the Spanish Triangle Trade. However, you should do it in winter and spring, so as to avoid those terrible typhoons in the Pacific.

If everything goes smoothly, I'll be back in about fifty days.

Zhu Gaoxu dared to think that it was because during the Wanli period of the late Ming Dynasty, Japan had helped Debivero, the former Philippine governor of the Spanish colony of Panama, to travel to the Americas.

Needless to say, Japan's navigation technology during the Wanli period was as good as what they could do, and the Ming Dynasty can also do it now.

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu did not take this route was mainly because Japan's political situation was not yet stable.

Although he remembers that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga Yoshitaka, and Ashikaga Yoshitsugu are all Shomei sects, he does not remember when Ashikaga Yoshimitsu died. He only remembers that after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's death, Ashikaga Yoshimochi came to power and killed Ashikaga. Yisi refused to continue to be a vassal to the Ming Dynasty and cut off large-scale trade, leaving only a few trading ports.

It was not until the death of Ashikaga Yoshimochi without a son a few years later and Ashikaga Yoshitaka came to power that the Ashikaga shogunate resumed paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty and the maritime tribute trade.

If Zheng He wanted to leave Japan for the Americas, it would take at least one year and at most two or three years.

During this period, supplies must be purchased from Japan and escorted to North America by the Ming Dynasty's horse ships until Zheng He can establish diplomatic, trade and other relations with the locals.

If something happens in Japan during this period, causing the supply of the Pacific Fleet to be interrupted. Although the Ming Dynasty can recruit troops and horses to end the chaos in Japan within half a year, or to maintain the situation of the eastern ports, for the Pacific Fleet, it will be without food for several days. It is an extremely terrifying existence, let alone a month or even a few months.

Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu chose to support Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, hoping to use Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to build a port in eastern Japan for the future Ming Dynasty and to open up the North Pacific waterway in the future.

Before that, it was safer for Ming Dynasty to take the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean routes.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu patted Zheng He on the shoulder: "Go ahead and do it without any worries."

"Yes!" Hearing what Zhu Gaoxu said, Zheng He was very moved, and Zhu Gaoxu also added:

"By the way, if we pass by Timur this time, no matter what Timur and the others say, let me bombard their city first and let them take out Fu An, Guo Ji, and the 1,500 people who were sent to Timur as envoys during the Hongwu period. Hand over more than a hundred soldiers to me!"

When he thought of Timur detaining the Ming envoys, Zhu Gaoxu's anxiety due to worry about Queen Xu immediately burst out.

"What if they don't hand it over?" Zheng He hesitated.

"Then you bring someone to fight over and rescue me!"

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he motioned to Zheng He to look at the treasure ships, warships and soldiers on the Jiangdongmen dock.

"The 27,000 people handed over to you, Chen Xuan, and Cui Jun are not just for navigation."

"Chen Xuan, Cui Jun!" Zhu Gaoxu said, looking back at Chen Xuan and Cui Jun.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, if Tamerlane doesn't hand over our people, or if he doesn't hand over our people, he will be the first to lead his troops to attack the shore!"

Chen Xuan spoke excitedly, God knows how many years he has been waiting for this trip to sea.

Since he surrendered to Zhu Gaoxu in the Battle of Jingnan, he and Huang Fu have been responsible for dredging the canal. For seven consecutive years, he was too busy to work.

Now that Yang Zhan has to take care of his old partner and stay, and he has become the most powerful general in the navy, he will naturally have to make some contributions.

He has already thought about it. If any country dares to mess with the fleet this way west, he will immediately capture their king and destroy their country.

Regarding Timur, if Zheng He is unwilling to bombard him, then he will use Zhu Gaoxu's words to detain him and lead his troops to perform meritorious service.

Chen Xuan's idea is what Zhu Gaoxu needs, and he will not let go of this opportunity to establish his authority in the Indian Ocean.

The Ming Dynasty's tribute system could not just stay in East Asia, Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia, but also spread to the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, and Africa.

He wanted to use the navy to tell Timur and other Central Asian countries that although they were protected by thousands of miles of Gobi on land, at sea, the Ming Dynasty was still the dynasty they could only look up to.

"Go!"

Zhu Gaoxu patted Zheng He, and Zheng He bowed in response, then turned around and walked towards the treasure ship on the dock with Chen Xuan, Cui Jun and others.

Not long after, with more than a dozen treasure ships and warships setting sail for Liujiagang, Ming Dynasty's second voyage to the West was about to begin...

(End of this chapter)