The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 369: Land appears out of thin air?

In Quanzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were walking on the crowded street and soon they were sweating all over.

I wanted to go shopping and buy something, but I was squeezed by the crowd and couldn't move.

I didn't get to enjoy the scenery, but I was exhausted.

I wanted to find a place to rest, but found that all the restaurants and teahouses along the street were full.

It was Tang He who stepped in and used his Jinyiwei badge to find a private room in a restaurant.

Opening the window and looking at the bustling crowd on the street, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said:

"I've heard that Quanzhou is the most prosperous place in the Ming Dynasty. Today I see it and I know the rumors are true."

Quanzhou has been one of China's most important port cities since ancient times.

After the Ming Dynasty opened up the sea, this place quickly became vibrant and prosperous again.

In terms of commercial prosperity, it is undoubtedly the most important city in the Ming Dynasty.

"Huh..." Madam Ma sat on the chair and sighed:

"It's just that this city is too small. It can squeeze people to death."

When talking about the crowdedness of the streets, Lao Zhu said with lingering fear:
"Yeah... But it's not all because the city is small, it's mainly because there are so many people."

"Merchants from all over the country gather here, and it is said that the number of people working here exceeds 160,000."

"Including the locals, the small city of Quanzhou has 270,000 to 280,000 people, almost catching up with Yingtian."

Madam Ma picked up the tea and drank it all, saying, "But this city is much smaller than Yingtian..."

Tang He smiled and said, "But this city won't be crowded for long. I heard that the new city area has been completed and will be open soon."

Madam Ma praised: "Jing Ke is a man of foresight. He proposed to build a new urban area when the sea was just opened."

Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but nod and said, "Yes, he said at the time that several seaport cities must be expanded after the opening of the sea."

“Now it seems that this is indeed very prescient.”

Ma Niangniang remembered something and laughed, “I don’t know who it was. At first I thought he was overthinking and didn’t want to agree to this proposal.”

Old Zhu didn't feel embarrassed at all and said, "If we know everything, why would we need him?"

At that time, Chen Jingke proposed that new urban areas should be built in Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Ningbo and several cities further north.

To cope with future development.

At that time, everyone in the court thought that he was thinking too much. Maritime trade was very developed in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and they didn’t think these cities were narrow?

Fortunately, Chen Jingke insisted and Zhu finally agreed.

The facts once again proved how forward-looking his opinions were.

The new urban area, which was expanded ahead of schedule, perfectly accommodated the large population that came with the commercial boom.

It saved the court a lot of time.

Tang He suppressed his laughter and said, "Chen Bandu's foresight is rare in the world, and his predictions have never been wrong."

"I wanted to become his relative, but unfortunately... ahem..."

He only realized what was happening halfway through his sentence and quickly tried to change the subject by coughing dryly.

Madam Ma sighed, "There's nothing bad to say. Their heir has always been like this. There's no point in being anxious."

Lao Zhu nodded, then looked at Tang He and said:
"You are so good, Tang He, you actually have such a little trick up your sleeve."

"I advise you not to dream. If he gives birth to a daughter, she will be the future Crown Princess or Queen, and if he gives birth to a son, he will be the future Prince Consort."

This is a planned marriage for Zhu Xiongying's child.

What, you mean there's a generation difference?
Is seniority a problem?

What, or consanguineous marriage?

This is called a closer relationship.

Anyway, this is what Old Zhu planned. The Chen family must be firmly tied to the Zhu family.

He couldn't control what happened in the future, as long as he was alive it had to be like this.

Tang He laughed and said, "I don't dare to compete with the superior for the position, but if his family has extra children, I can always claim this relationship as a relative."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "You are smart, the first child of his family, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, will belong to our Old Zhu family."

"We can ignore the second child."

"But there are many people waiting to marry into his family. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to snatch them away."

Empress Ma rolled her eyes and said, "You two old men, can you behave yourself? If someone doesn't know you, they would think you are bandits who have kidnapped the child."

"Haha..." Lao Zhu and Tang He laughed loudly.

As we were chatting and laughing, we suddenly heard a noise coming from outside.

Old Zhu stood up and walked to the window, looking outside, and saw someone in the distance shouting something.

It's just that we were too far away and I couldn't hear what was being said.

Without his instructions, Tang He had already arranged people to investigate.

After a long time, the person who inquired for the news came back and brought back detailed intelligence:

"Sir, a group of merchant ships that were thought to have been lost in a storm have returned."

"It is said that they were blown off course by the sea wind, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. They discovered a large island in the southeast where barbarians lived."

"Originally they thought they had discovered a new country and were going to sell their goods to the barbarians."

"But those barbarians are very backward and can't even smelt iron. I can only return with regret."

Hearing this, Lao Zhu lost interest.

In recent years, merchants from the Ming Dynasty have discovered many islands, some of which are inhabited and some are uninhabited.

But they have one thing in common: the barbarians on these islands are very backward and generally do not understand smelting technology.

In the words of Chen Jingke, we are still living in primitive times and there is no value in trade.

It is not an exaggeration at all. The barbarians on these islands do not have smelting technology and do not have any precious metals.

Even proper agriculture has not been developed, and there is no way to provide raw materials.

It really has no value at all for online commerce.

However, the imperial court did not do nothing. It gave generous rewards to the caravans that discovered the island.

Then the court sent personnel to explore and estimate whether the area was worth operating.

If it is an inhabited island, investigate and record the customs and habits of the indigenous people.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was not very interested in these things.

The subordinate continued to report: "I heard that those merchants were unwilling to give up and walked along the coastline for several days."

"All I saw were relatively desolate grasslands and deserts, and the barbarians I encountered were no different..."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment and asked:
"Are you sure they walked along the coastline for several days? And the environment they saw was basically the same?"

The subordinate thought about it carefully and said affirmatively: "The rumor is indeed true."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned serious, and Empress Ma and Tang He also realized that something was wrong.

We sailed along the coastline for several days but still couldn't reach the end. We encountered many barbarian tribes...

Considering the above situation, this island is probably not ordinary big.

Then the situation is different.

Tang He immediately stood up and said, "I will go find those merchants and ask for details."

Zhu Yuanzhang reminded: "We must get the sea chart."

Tang He responded and turned to leave.

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Madam Ma: "If it is true as you guessed, our journey may be over."

Madam Ma smiled and said, "You think I want to travel everywhere, but it's just to accompany you."
-
That day, when Chen Jingke just got home from work, Lan Yu came to his house with his two sons, carrying a large amount of delicacies from land and sea.

He was not shy at all. As soon as he entered the room, he called the servants and asked them to send the food to the kitchen to be cooked.

The servants were already familiar with him. They came forward to greet him with a smile, took the things and went to the backyard.

Lan Yu found Chen Jingke and Fuqing in the garden, and as soon as they met, he made the two children kneel down:

"Hurry up and call Master and Madam."

Lan Chun and Lan Bin, two chubby brothers, knelt on the ground and kowtowed when they heard their father's words. Chen Jingke was speechless. Lan Yu's reckless character was really helpless.

At the beginning, it was said that the two brothers should recognize each other as godfathers.

Unfortunately, there was a generation difference between them, and Chen Jingke firmly disagreed, so he had to give up.

Then I don't know who gave him the idea to become a disciple.

So he brought the gifts for becoming a disciple, and regardless of whether Chen Jingke agreed or not, he made the two children kowtow and become his disciple.

However, compared to recognizing a godfather, becoming a disciple is still acceptable.

After all, the one who is more accomplished comes first, and seniority is not really important when becoming a disciple.

Then Fuqing was very happy.

The master's wife is also a mother. Finally, a child calls her mother. She is so happy.

The two children loved each other terribly.

The two children were also close to her, and after they kowtowed, they used their hands and feet to crawl towards her:

"Master's Wife, Master's Wife, we missed you so much."

Fuqing pulled the two brothers up distressedly:
"Why are you kneeling? Don't listen to your father. He is a bastard. Master's wife will take you to eat delicious food."

The two brothers were so happy to hear her calling their father a bastard.

In their hearts, the master's wife is their protector.

It’s very simple. The mother is afraid of the father. When Lan Yu is angry, the mother can’t protect them.

But Fuqing can do it. She is not afraid of Lan Yu at all and dares to call him a bastard to his face.

In the eyes of the two children, the teacher's wife is so awesome.

When he got into trouble, he didn't go to his biological mother, but ran to his master's wife for shelter.

Fortunately, the two families are close to each other, so there is no need to worry about anything happening on the road.

Fuqing took the two children and left, leaving only Chen Jingke and Lan Yu.

Chen Jingke asked him to sit down and asked, "Are you here to visit or do you have something to ask?"

Lan Yu sat down opposite him, grabbed a handful of pine nuts and said while eating them:

"Just visiting and asking something."

Chen Jingke waved his hand to let the servant leave and said, "Then you should talk about your business first."

Lan Yu paused for a moment and said, "Regarding the matter of enfeoffment..."

Chen Jingke frowned slightly and asked, "Someone has doubts?"

Lan Yu said helplessly: "You know."

Chen Jingke naturally understood that the promised division of fiefdoms had not happened yet.

Although some time ago, more than a dozen top nobles were asked to form a group to help Qin Wang Zhu Chong, and they were promised that they could form their own forces.

But this is still not enough to dispel everyone's doubts.

Chen Jingke naturally knew why everyone was doubtful, and he would feel the same if he were in their shoes.

But there are some plans that really can't be revealed too much.

After thinking for a while, he said: "The court will make a big move soon. If everything goes well, we can carry out the grand enfeoffment next year."

Lan Yu raised her eyebrows and said, "But are we going to take action against the Nanyang barbarians?"

To destroy Nanyang, it is necessary to mobilize troops and generals, and such a matter naturally could not be hidden from a military general like Lan Yu.

But he didn't know why the court wanted to withdraw troops before.

After being reminded, he immediately guessed the truth.

Chen Jingke nodded and said, "Yes, at least 70% of the vassal states in Southeast Asia must be destroyed."

"This will free up a lot of land, which can be used to enfeoff some vassal kings."

"The court's plan is to enthrone five princes and ten lords of the opposite sex."

"In this way, the power layout of Nanyang can be officially formed."

After the completion of this plan, Nanyang will completely become the bathtub of the Ming Dynasty, and the vassal plan can be officially implemented.

The vassal plan is the engine of the imperial plan.

Only after completing this plan can the Ming Dynasty implement subsequent imperial plans.

This was a good opportunity to fulfill the promise of a large enfeoffment and completely stabilize the hearts of the noble group.

Lan Yu was very excited when he heard this plan.

After all, the great division that has been talked about for so long finally has a definite time for its implementation.

What he was more concerned about was whether he was on the list of the first batch of enfeoffment.

According to common sense, the first group to be enfeoffed must be those who have made the greatest contributions.

In his opinion, he would definitely be able to get a spot based on his merits and special status.

According to Chen Jingke, after this division, no other vassal states will be established in Southeast Asia.

If it cannot be placed in the South Pacific, then it can only be placed in the more distant Western islands, or in the far west.

Or the frozen desert in the far north...

Those places are either too far away from the Ming Dynasty or too desolate, and are not good choices.

Nanyang is very close to the Ming Dynasty and is located on an important route to the sea. In the future, the fiefdom will be very prosperous.

It is the most suitable place to be closed.

Thinking of this, he rubbed his hands and asked:

"Well... give me some information, will I be in the first batch?"

Looking at Lan Yu, who had white hair and beard, forcing a flattering smile, Chen Jingke felt amused:
"rest assured……"

Hearing this, Lan Yu was delighted.

Chen Jingke continued, "Without you."

Lan Yu's expression froze, and then he said dejectedly: "What kind of good news is this..."

Then he said unconvincedly: "Tell me who they are. I want to see why they are ranked ahead of me."

Chen Jingke naturally understood his thoughts and said:

"The King of Shu and the King of Xiang are not among the five princes."

Lan Yu was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "Among the princes who have not yet been conferred titles, the Prince of Lu, the Prince of Shu, and the Prince of Xiang are the oldest. Why not confer titles on them?"

Chen Jingke said: "Because they have a good relationship with the prince."

Lan Yu was even more puzzled: "Since he has a good relationship with the crown prince, shouldn't he be granted a fiefdom in a fertile place?"

At this point, he seemed to have thought of something, and lowered his voice and said:

"Could it be that your Majesty..."

Chen Jingke said quickly: "Shut up, what are you guessing about?"

I didn't dare to keep him waiting any longer, so I just said:
"Because there are better places waiting for them."

Lan Yu said in disbelief: "Where else could be more suitable than Nanyang? Could it be Japan?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said, "No, don't ask. I can't tell you these now."

"Also, the ten princes who were enfeoffed in the South China Sea were all minor nobles who had already retired."

"The highest title is Earl."

"Dukes and nobles with great abilities will be granted fiefs only when the time is right in the future."

Lan Yu was even more confused. If someone else said this to him, he would definitely think:

Nanyang was too important, so the imperial court deliberately conferred titles on some minor nobles with poor abilities so that they would be easier to control.

But these words were said by Chen Jingke, and so mysteriously, so he must have a bigger plan.

But he really couldn't figure it out. With such a small area, what else could he plan?

Is it possible to create a large piece of land out of thin air and put all these powerful people in it?
(End of this chapter)