Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 279 Zhu Di's Voyage to the West

a few days later.

evening.

Kunning Palace.

In the dining room, Emperor Zhu Gaoxu of the Ming Dynasty and Queen Li Yao were having a candlelight dinner together.

"Your Majesty, must the fiefdoms of the eight brothers Zhanju, Zhancheng, and Zhantang be located in Wozhou?"

Li Yao added a spoonful of the egg soup she made to Zhu Gaoxu, and then asked warmly.

In the tenth year of Yongle, Zheng He led his fleet back from the Eastern Ocean and completed the great feat of sailing around the world.

He led a fleet to find sweet potatoes and other crops in the wilderness of Nanzhou (South America), and discovered groundnuts there that had almost disappeared in China after the Han Dynasty.

The soldiers felt that the scenery there was beautiful and full of forests, like a fairyland, so they gave Dahuang Nanzhou a nickname, Penglai Xianzhou, or Xianzhou for short.

In addition, they also found that the Dahuang Dongzhou located to the north of Xianzhou was fertile, with vast plains and a mild climate, making it very livable. The appearance of the local Tu people was almost the same as that of the Chinese people.

In the eyes of Zheng He and other Ming soldiers, the Great Wilderness East Continent was like the second divine continent given by God. Therefore, in order to distinguish it from the Chinese Divine Continent where the Ming Dynasty was located, they specially gave it the nickname "Wozhou". That is, a fertile continent.

After Zheng He led the Ming Dynasty fleet to return, Wozhou gradually became integrated with the legendary Fusangzhou in the far east after being passed down from one person to another.

"Fuso" means "the far east or the place where the sun rises" in ancient Chinese. Later generations of research confirmed that "Fuso Country" is "Mexico" (Note 1).

In this way, Wozhou and Fusang became the nicknames of Dahuangdongzhou.

However, under Zhu Gaoxu's deliberate guidance, the Ming court called Dahuang Dongzhou "Donghua" in official documents, and occasionally also called Dahuang Dongzhou.

"My father once said that Donghua Wozhou is another fertile land gifted by God to our children. If the Ming Dynasty cannot occupy it, a country that is powerful enough to threaten my status as the sovereign state of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be born there in a few hundred years."

Every time Zhu Gaoxu mentions Wozhou, he can't help but think back to the United States in his memory where no evil was committed.

He was even more amazed by Zhu Di's insight and foresight.

Zhu Di's eyes seemed to have traveled through the long river of time, and he saw the evil done by that evil-ridden United States.

"My father decided to go to sea and personally went to Wozhou to select fiefdoms on the Wozhou continent for the eight brothers Zhancheng, Zhancheng, and Zhantang. My father also said that he hoped that Wozhou would become our Chinese nation in the future. A new continent for man.”

Zhu Gaoxu said solemnly: "After the improved sea trial of the General is successful, the emperor and his mother will go out to sea from Dagu Port of Tianjin under the escort of the Nanyang Navy. At that time, brothers Zhanyun, Zhancheng and Zhantang will The eight people have to go with us, this is a fixed plan and no one can change it."

Li Yao saw Zhu Gaoxu's serious face and said a little aggrievedly: "Ke Zhantang is only 13 years old. He is a poor child. He -"

Zhu Gaoxu glared at Li Yao. The latter realized that he had just lost his composure. He immediately turned around and ordered the palace servants and chamberlains standing around: "You all should step back. Without your Majesty's and my orders, no one can Don’t come in.”

"Yes."

Kang Ping and Liu Jingzhong immediately led the servants and palace officials out of the dining room.

After confirming that everyone had withdrawn, Li Yao stood up, bowed to Zhu Gaoxu and saluted: "Your Majesty, I just made a mistake, please punish me."

"Zhantang grew up eating your breast milk. It is clearly recorded on the jade certificate that he is the third son you gave birth to for me. How can he be 'poor'?"

Zhu Gaoxu specially emphasized the word "poor".

At this moment, Li Yao kept leaning forward, waiting for Zhu Gaoxu to let her lie down. "I know you are reluctant to let go of Tang'er. Back then, you promised Concubine Shu (Quan Shuying) that you would raise Tang'er to adulthood and train him to be a wise king. But although Tang'er is only 13 years old, he is already six feet tall. A man. My father wanted to cultivate him, so he deliberately brought him with him."

Knowing that Li Yao was reluctant to leave Zhu Zhantang, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly lost his composure. After saying a few words, he said softly: "Just calm down. I wasn't angry with you just now. You don't have to take it to heart."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Yao then sat back down.

Three months later.

Tianjin Wei, Zhigu Port.

The emperor's personal army Jinyiwei, Bannerwei, Fujunwei, Yulinwei, Hubenwei, Longxiangwei, Zhongbawei, Hussarwei, Yingyangwei, Leopardwei, etc. The Tunqi Guards, Xuanjia Guards, etc. all came to the scene and surrounded the entire Dagukou.

On the shore around the port, rows of fully armed guards stood tall and saluted the mighty and domineering warship General on the sea.

When the Grand Admiral was first built, it was designed according to a standard large warship.

Since this ship was exclusively used by Zhu Di, its defensive power far exceeded that of ordinary warships, and its size was also much larger than the Tianyuan treasure ship.

Moreover, this warship is equipped with a steam engine propeller, which can be driven by a steam engine as power, or can be driven by a sail or human pedaling.

This ship first used a paddle wheel. However, during the trial, it was found that the paddle wheel was insufficient in power and easily damaged, so it was replaced by a propeller.

Historically, the reason why the paddle wheel became the first steam-powered propulsion device was because its design was simple and only required slight modifications on the wheel paddle. It was also relatively simple to manufacture and conformed to the linear thinking of people at that time.

However, the shortcomings of paddle wheel propulsion are also obvious. It occupies valuable broadside artillery placement area, and the propulsion efficiency is also low.

This is because at the leading edge of the paddle wheel, the paddles push the seawater backward and downward, and at the trailing edge of the paddle wheel, the paddles push the seawater backward and upward. A considerable part of the power of the main engine is wasted in pushing the seawater up or down. in the process of.

Even if the propeller replaces the original paddle wheel, there are still new problems, such as severe vibration on a wooden-hulled ship, wear of the propeller shaft bearing below the waterline, propeller shaft seals and thrust bearings, etc.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu remembered the general appearance of the "Guandao Paddle" (Note 2). After he pointed out the direction of improvement to the craftsmen, the ferroalloy "Guandao Paddle" with small vibration amplitude and low noise was born in China more than 500 years in advance. on the ground.

Although the steam engine at this time was still very large, it did not prevent the General from becoming the overlord of the sea!

Such a giant battleship equipped with cannons and propellers, with steel fixed all over, and five thousand materials, is like a city that can move on the sea. It will definitely become a nightmare for kings overseas!
The Ming Dynasty's Supreme Emperor Zhu Di and Queen Mother Xu Miaoyun were all wearing military uniforms. Zheng He, Wang Jinghong and other close eunuchs were wearing soft armor, as well as Nanyang Navy Commander Chen Xuan, Deputy Commander Ping An, Staff Commander Chen Dezu, Ordnance Commander Li Shi, and Military Suppliers. Surrounded by Admiral He Yizong and other senior generals of the Nanyang Navy, they waved their raised right hands towards the Ming Emperor Zhu Gaoxu, civil and military officials, and the Emperor's troops on the shore.

A total of 72 large treasure ships, more than [-] medium-sized sea-going ships, more than [-] small boats, and more than [-] officers and soldiers accompanied the General warship to sea this time.

The hulls of the Han Dynasty building ships were divided into three to five layers. Buildings were built on the ships, hence the name building ships. They were generally more than ten feet high. For example, Sun Quan’s building ship "Feiyun" in the Eastern Wu Dynasty could carry [-] soldiers, but this kind of building Boats are limited to inland rivers and lakes and do not have the ability to sail across oceans.

Previously, Zheng He led the Ming Dynasty fleet to sea, and the large treasure ship could carry a thousand people. Now Zhu Di's Great General can carry 4000 people!
On the shore of Dagu Port, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the General, which was drifting away, and two lines of hot tears flowed out uncontrollably.

After saying goodbye to Zhu Di and Xu Miaoyun today, perhaps from now on, he will never see them again in his life.

Perhaps, he would be able to see one of the two in a few years.

Note 1: "Liang Shu Biography Volume 54": "In the first year of Yongyuan of Qi Dynasty, the Fusang Kingdom came to Jingzhou and said: 'Fusang is more than [-] miles east of the Han Dynasty, and the land is in the east of China. There are many hibiscus trees in the soil, so it is named after it. The hibiscus leaves are like tung trees, and when they are young, they are like bamboo shoots. When the Chinese eat them, they are actually as red as pears, and their skins are used as cloth for clothing and cotton. They build wooden houses without city walls. There are The writing is made of fusang skin. Without soldiers and armor, there is no attack." Both "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Liang Shu Biography" prove that the "Fusang Country" is Mexico.

Note 2: There is a master named Zhou Ting in Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard. Based on his decades of experience in making propellers, he made the outline of the propeller blades like Guan Gong’s 82-pound sword in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He vividly Call it "Guandao Paddle".

(End of this chapter)