The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 372: Never suffer from future troubles
This is absolutely true. If a continent is really discovered, it would be a blessing from God for the Ming Dynasty.

Then the problem arises...

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "If the record in that travel book is true, there is a Yanzhou in the southeast, what should we do with it?"

Zhu Xiongying said without thinking: "Of course we should shoot them down."

Zhu Biao also nodded and said: "If you don't take what God gives you, you will be blamed."

Chen Jingke roughly guessed what Zhu Yuanzhang meant. What he wanted to ask was not whether to occupy Yanzhou, but how to rule there.

As expected, Zhu Yuanzhang then asked:

"According to those merchants, it is thousands of miles from Yanzhou to Quanzhou. How can the court achieve effective governance?"

Zhu Xiongying looked embarrassed. It would take several months to go back and forth, and it would be very difficult to achieve effective occupation.

Zhu Biao immediately guessed what the old man meant, but did not say it out loud. Instead, he asked:
"What do you think should be done, Dad?"

"Enfeoffment." Zhu Yuanzhang did not keep the secret and said directly:

"We promised the nobles that we would give them fiefs in exchange for their support for the reform."

"I was always worried about where to get so much land to give to them."

"Now... isn't this just like a pillow when you're sleepy?"

Before Zhu Biao could say anything, Zhu Xiongying was already unhappy:

"Grandpa Emperor, that's a continent. Wouldn't you feel bad if you just sealed it off like this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said kindly: "Grandpa Emperor is so happy that he can't wait to feel sad."

He further explained: "Except for the unsealed areas circled by Jing Ke, we won't feel bad if we seal off all other places."

The so-called unenfeoffed land refers to the land that is directly ruled by the imperial court and will not be divided among anyone.

It generally includes: Indochina Peninsula - Qinghai-Tibet - Western Regions - North Sea (Lake Baikal) - Liaodong to North Korea, and the East China Sea Islands.

Plus the Temasek Island, which controls the throat of the South China Sea.

This vast area was the limit of the rule of classical society.

Even if steam locomotives appear in the future, they will only strengthen the ruling power within the circle and will not be of much help to those outside the circle.

Unless the Ming Dynasty enters the electrical age in one step, it will be difficult for the area it can directly rule to exceed this range.

Therefore, Chen Jingke roughly drew an area and designated it as an unrestricted area.

As the saying goes, greed is the ultimate goal. On this point, Old Zhu is more clear-headed than anyone else.

Therefore, he strongly agreed with Chen Jingke's proposal, and Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying also agreed with it.

But recognition is recognition, and if a whole new continent is really discovered, it still takes great courage to give up just like that.

On this point, Zhu Xiongying is still a little bit behind.

In other words, his heart is bigger and he wants more.

However, ambition cannot change reality.

With current technology, it is impossible to achieve the rule over Yanzhou.

Dividing it up is actually the best solution.

In principle, Zhu Biao also agreed with his father's opinion.

His ambition was greater than Zhu Yuanzhang's, but also limited.

In addition to not enfeoffing the land, he also wanted to build a vassal system.

Then they used the vassal relationship to control the vast area of ​​Southeast Asia, India and Asia Minor.

The purpose of doing this is not to achieve personal hegemony, but to get everything in place so that the Ming Dynasty will be safer.

As for the world outside, he had no idea about it.

The newly emerged Yanzhou is thousands of miles away from Quanzhou, and is very suitable for being enfeoffed to the princes.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty adopted a system of military merit-based titles, which would inevitably produce more nobles in the future.

As the country's fortune is passed down for a long time, the number of royal descendants will increase.

The branch clans have their own vassal princes to worry about, but the main line prince must have his own fiefdom.

What will the court do if a hundred years later, when there is no land left to grant?
A brand new continent could allow the Ming Dynasty's feudal system to continue for hundreds more years.

What else is there to be dissatisfied with?

But he also has his own concerns: "It is still unknown whether Yanzhou exists."

"Assuming it really exists, would the nobles be willing to accept a fiefdom thousands of miles away?"

"Humph." Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly: "Who dares not to accept it?"

Zhu Biao shook his head and said, "It's better not to force this matter."

Madam Ma at the side continued, "The nobles will surely be worried, fearing that the court will deliberately banish them to a barren land."

"The reason why I have such an idea is that I don't understand Yanzhou. I just need to solve this problem."

Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "This is easy to handle. Let's first confer titles on a few of our sons. That way they won't worry anymore, right?"

"If you still don't want to, then you are not giving us face."

Chen Jingke couldn't help but nod secretly.

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were rough but his point was true. The princes had already been conferred the title. If other nobles still tried to resist, they really did not know their own worth.

After thinking for a while, he added: "If Yanzhou is confirmed to be real, the court will definitely organize people to explore it. We might as well let the nobles send representatives to go together."

"Once they understand Yanzhou, they will probably be more receptive."

Zhu Biao nodded, obviously agreeing with this opinion, and said:
"It may take three or four years from the exploration of Yanzhou to the final enfeoffment."

"Yun Wen will also be of age to be crowned by then, so let's confer the title on him as well."

Zhu Xiongying obviously wanted to object: "Second brother..."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows, interrupted him, and said to Zhu Biao:
"It's great that you have this awareness."

"As a prince, you must set an example, so that you can shut up the people of the world."

Seeing this, Zhu Xiongying could only shut his mouth. Deep down, he didn't want his brother Feng to suffer.

In terms of being an elder brother, he and Zhu Biao are very similar.

He was very good to his younger brothers and was loved by everyone.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao's reasons were so impeccable that he could not object any further.

Chen Jingke sighed in his heart. Old Zhu and Zhu Biao were trying to eliminate the last hidden danger.

No one can guarantee what Zhu Yunwen will do after knowing the truth about Lu's sudden death.

But he is a descendant of the Zhu family and cannot be killed for no reason.

The best solution is to seal them off thousands of miles away, with no possibility of ever returning.

What could Chen Jingke say about this? He could only applaud silently in his heart.

Yanzhou's geographical location determines that it will inevitably be under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

In the previous life, although the Australian government was anti-China every day, it was still highly dependent on China economically.

In this life, not only is China controlled by the Ming Dynasty economically, but also politically.

Yanzhou can only exist as a subsidiary of China and cannot be truly independent.

Moreover, there were very sufficient reasons to confer the title on Zhu Yunwen.

The imperial court needs princes to set an example, and your uncle has conferred titles on several of them.

As the oldest among the three generations of princes except for the crown prince, it would be unreasonable for you not to go, right?

Putting Zhu Yunwen there directly locked his future.

Even if he knew the truth, there was nothing he could do.

The key point is that there are independent vassal states all around, and he doesn't even dare to openly break with the court.

Zhu Xiongying didn't know the truth about Lu's sudden death, so he couldn't understand the good intentions of his grandfather and father.

But now he is just the prince, and it is not his turn to be the head of this family.

Old Zhu and Zhu Biao made the decision directly, so it was useless for him to object.
-
The disposal plan for Yanzhou was finalized, and the only thing left was to determine how big it was, whether it was an island or a continent as rumored. Zhu Biao immediately announced that a merchant had discovered a piece of land in the southeast, which was suspected to be the legendary Yanzhou.

Then he explained further that this Yanzhou is not that Yanzhou.

It is not the Yanzhou of the ten continents and three islands in mythology and legends, but a continent discovered by maritime merchants in the Song Dynasty, which they named Yanzhou.

But no one believed them at the time, and the information was forgotten.

Some time ago, a merchant from the Ming Dynasty accidentally arrived there, and then people remembered the records about Yanzhou.

But whether that place is Yanzhou is still unknown, and the court is preparing to send people to explore.

Zhu Biao acted quickly. After announcing the news, he immediately dispatched a fleet of thirty ships of various types to Yanzhou.

Chen Jingke couldn't help but be amazed at the scale.

In the past, when Westerners started the great voyages of discovery, a fleet was considered large-scale at first if it had three to five ships and a hundred or so people.

When Columbus discovered America, he only had three ships and about a hundred crew members.

Now the Ming Dynasty court has sent out thirty ships at once, and two of them are large ships that are more than twenty meters long.

The crew numbered over three thousand.

This scale is huge.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Ming Dynasty was the only superpower of this era.

Unsurprisingly, the news about the New World sparked widespread discussion.

No one was surprised to find a new continent overseas. After the opening of the sea, with the popularization of nautical charts, more and more people realized that the world outside was huge.

It is normal that there is one more continent now.

No one doubts whether the records of Song Dynasty merchants are true or false, and there is absolutely no need to do so.

You can find out whether it is true or not by going up and taking a look.

Besides, there is no need for the emperor to use this matter to deceive everyone.

The focus of everyone's discussion was how far that continent was from the Ming Dynasty and whether there would be any danger.

Then, the question is how the Ming Dynasty should respond to the emergence of the New World.

Because the division of fiefdoms had not been announced yet, no one considered it in that regard.

Although some nobles knew about the promise of enfeoffment, they also did not think about it that way.

What people discussed more was normal interactions with the forces on the mainland, and trade and the like.

Of course, these are the thoughts of normal people. There are also abnormal people who think differently.

Chen Yonghe's family has made a living by ferrying and fishing for generations. After the Ming Dynasty opened up the sea, he gathered a group of fellow villagers and first worked as boatmen for wealthy merchants.

Later, he bought his own boat and sailed behind a caravan.

In just a few years, he became a maritime merchant with some strength.

None of this matters. What matters is that he is a die-hard fan of "Pirates of Malacca".

He is crazy about it, imitating the captain's speaking style every day, and likes dolphins and killer whales (Mazu's pets and sword-carrying guards).

Daydreaming about adventures all day long.

Especially the court's generous reward for anyone who discovered a new island made him want to change track.

The minimum guarantee for discovering a new island is to receive rewards from the imperial court.

If there were native people on the island, you might be able to make some extra money.

For example, some islands have open-pit gold and silver mines.

Although the natives do not know the value of this thing, they often take some back home as decorations.

Accumulated from generation to generation, the reserves are still very considerable.

Whoever discovered the island could easily exchange the gold and silver for cotton, pottery, porcelain and other items.

It’s just that discovering the island was luck, and having gold and silver on the island was even luckier.

In addition, the danger of the expedition was too great, so he had not been able to make up his mind.

Upon hearing that a new continent was suspected to have been discovered, the imperial court sent a huge fleet to explore.

He couldn't bear it any longer and immediately called his friends to announce his decision.

He also confidently said: "There is a continent in the West, and now a continent has also been discovered in the southeastern sea."

"Only the northeastern sea area has never been visited by anyone because it is too desolate and cold."

"I suspect there will be a continent there as well... or at least a large island."

"So I decided to explore the Northeast Sea..."

However, most people just wanted to live an honest life, and only seven or eight people were willing to take risks with him.

He was not disappointed. Having seven or eight people was already pretty good.

Moreover, he did not place all his hopes on his friends. His real reliance was on a group of sea urchins he met in Temasek.

To put it simply, a sea vagrant is a person who has no fixed place to live, no boat of his own, and makes a living by drifting on the sea.

What they lack the least is desperadoes.

Because of their identities, most of them also like the story of "Pirates".

Chen Yonghe came to Temasek and found this group of people to explain his plan.

And promised that all the gains would be shared equally among everyone.

This is also the rule in "Pirates", all the spoils must be divided equally.

Of course, the person who provides the boat has the right to a larger share.

Although Chen Yonghe had a boat, he often got involved with sea scoundrels because he liked "Pirates".

He is quite famous in this circle.

Therefore, when he put forward his idea, he immediately received responses from some of the sea gangsters.

It was easy to recruit more than 120 desperadoes.

Their actions naturally did not escape the eyes of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and soon the Governor of Temasek, Fu An, knew about this matter.

Instead of mocking or opposing, he took the initiative to find Chen Yonghe and expressed his willingness to fund his actions.

"I can provide you with three ships and various supplies."

"I can also issue you a document that will allow you to obtain the help of the navy along the way."

Chen Yonghe was naturally very happy. Three ships and the corresponding supplies were priced at a sky-high price.

If he were to go out on his own, it would be quite a hassle.

It’s great that someone is willing to fund it now.

Moreover, the significance of an expedition with official support and an expedition without official support is completely different.

But he also knows that there is no such thing as free lunch.

He asked very cautiously, "I wonder what the Governor wants me to do?"

Fu An smiled and said, "You don't need to pay anything if you find something on this trip."

"Just tell the world exactly how I funded you."

Chen Yonghe immediately understood what he meant, which was political achievements.

So he felt relieved and said, "Don't worry, Governor Fu. I, Chen Yonghe, survive on the sea by relying on loyalty."

"I will never do such an ungrateful thing."

Fu An said with satisfaction: "That's good. I wish Captain Chen a triumphant return."

With the support of Fu An, the Governor of Temasek, Chen Yonghe's adventure team was quickly formed.

This small fleet entered Japanese waters along the Chu State and Ryukyu, and then replenished supplies in the Kingdom of Korea.

Finally, it dived into the northeastern waters and disappeared.

At this time, no one realized what kind of surprise they would bring to the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)