The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 428 Return
On that day, Juntaro Matsushita personally led people to Ezo Island to capture two ships of slaves, preparing to bring them back and throw them into his own mine on an island to work.

Although slavery was prohibited in the Ming Dynasty, it did not say that it was not allowed outside.

Slaves are commonly used in overseas mines.

Not to mention him, the Ming Dynasty also used mining slaves in its gold and silver mines on Sado Island.

The origins of these mining slaves were very wide, including the Rakshasas and Guifang people in the north, the Ainu and Japanese in the east, and the indigenous people of Southeast Asia.

There were even people captured from the West.

Juntaro Matsushita's slave trade was not affected at all by the Ming Dynasty's ban on slavery and was booming.

Especially in the past two years, he developed the Sindhu market, and the nobles there were trafficking with great pleasure to the people under their rule.

The cheapest price, the strongest slave labor.

Moreover, these slaves are very honest and have little rebelliousness. Their only shortcoming is that they are a bit lazy.

But under the whip, these are minor problems.

He even wanted to send people to Yanzhou, but it was currently blocked by the Ming Navy and no landing was allowed without permission.

This made him very regretful.

However, as the King of the Whale Sea and the largest slave trader in the world today, he still makes a fortune.

It's just that after being the leader for so many years, his political ability has been honed.

With the changes in Ming Dynasty policies, he keenly realized that the slave labor trade might be coming to an end.

The great division of fiefdoms began, and all the four seas belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

The most important thing is that the Ming Dynasty court formulated a basic law, which included an anti-slavery order.

The use of slaves is prohibited in all vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

This means that the living space of the slave labor trade has been compressed, and this meal will no longer be easy to make.

Seeing that the treasure bowl was gone just like that, he felt very depressed.

Of course he didn't dare to have any opinions about the Ming Dynasty. As a smart man, he knew how to live a better life.

If you don't want to become a slave laborer, it's best not to anger the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, as a person who was mentally enslaved, he would not have any dissatisfaction towards Chen Jingke in his mind.

Whatever the master does is right.

However, he was still depressed, so he went to Ezo Island to capture slaves in person to relieve his boredom.

Otherwise, as the King of the Whale Sea, why would he do such a dirty job?

But after arriving in Ezo Island, he became even more depressed.

The reason is simple: it is difficult to catch the Ainu people on the island.

In the past, there were 550,000 Ainu people living on this island, so it was very easy to capture them.

However, during the Japanese Civil War, Northern Dynasty Changqing received support from the Ming Dynasty and gradually gained the upper hand.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu of the Southern Dynasty brought in the Emishi people to fight against the Northern Dynasty together.

After so many years of fighting, Japan suffered heavy losses, with about 40% of its adult men lost.

The Ainu people were even worse off, with their total population decreasing by 50% to 60%.

Coupled with his efforts as a slave trader, there are now less than 100,000 Ainu people left on the entire island.

The remaining people have learned to stick together, and it is now very difficult to catch people as easily as before.

It took more than half a month to barely gather two ships of slaves.

More than a dozen of the warriors he brought with him were killed.

After adding up the food, drink, defecation and urination of so many people, plus the compensation for the deaths, the cost is barely covered.

Juntaro Matsushita, who was already depressed, became even more depressed and kicked down the Ezo girl who was serving him.

He waved his hands impatiently at the men rushing in and said:

"I give it to you."

The two men were overjoyed and dragged the girl away with lewd smiles.

(Don’t have any sympathy for the Ainu people. During the Anti-Japanese War, Ainu Japanese soldiers cut the flesh of anti-Japanese soldiers as dry food, and there are photos circulating.)
"We can't live like this anymore." Juntaro Matsushita said in a pure Rakushita accent.

Luoxia accent was the official language in ancient China, but after thousands of years of evolution, the earliest Luoxia accent has changed beyond recognition.

But one thing is certain: for most of the time, the Central Plains accent was used as the official language.

This accent is also known as the Central Plains elegant accent.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the official language was also the elegant pronunciation of the Central Plains.

After the capital was moved to Luoyang, some literati renamed the Central Plains elegant music as Luoxia music.

In fact, this Luoxia sound is no longer the same as that Luoxia sound.

As the most loyal Ming warrior, Juntaro Matsushita strictly followed the customs of the Central Plains in his every move and every word.

I hired several teachers and corrected my accent bit by bit.

Even a language master wouldn't be able to find fault with it.

"No, I have to think of a new way to make money..."

"It would be nice if I could get some guidance from Chen Bandu."

"Hey, but Chen Bandu said that I can't go to Luoyang without his order."

"The last time I went there was two years ago..."

It’s not that Chen Jingke discriminated against him, but this guy didn’t want to leave after arriving in Luoyang.

It was difficult to drive him away, but he would sneak away to other important towns every now and then to enjoy himself.

The key point is that this guy is neither greedy for delicious food nor interested in beautiful women. He just likes to go to places where there are many readers.

Every time someone praised him for his elegance, he felt happier than being a groom, and he never got tired of it.

There was really no other way, so Chen Jingke ordered him not to enter the Ming Dynasty without permission.

This made Juntaro Matsushita feel uncomfortable for a long time.

However, he did not dare to disobey Chen Jingke's orders, and he had not been there in the past two years.

Thinking back to the prosperous civilization of the Ming Dynasty and then thinking about the barbarity of Japan, his heart was completely distracted.

"No, I have to find an excuse to go to Luoyang... What should I do..."

"If I had known earlier, I would have brought Fujiyama Yonekura here. He's a very clever guy."

Fujiyama Yonekura was his military advisor and gave him many bad advice.

Just when the unhappy Juntaro Matsushita was preparing to return home, his men suddenly reported that two strange ships had been discovered.

Hearing this, Juntaro Matsushita immediately became alert and immediately ordered the enemy to be surrounded.

He wanted to see who dared to ignore his existence as the King of the Whale Sea.

A so-called strange ship is a ship that has not paid protection fees.

Now he no longer engages in robbery, this thing is just draining the pond to catch fish.

Setting up checkpoints and charging fees is the long-term business.

All ships passing through the Whale Sea must pay protection fees.

It’s okay if you don’t pay it. I don’t care if you get robbed by others.

He also built many supply points in the Whale Sea, and only ships that had paid protection fees could dock and rest.

No one who has not paid protection money will be allowed to pass.

Even the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty receive the same treatment here.

Of course, he had Chen Jingke's permission for this.

The protection fees were split 30% to 70% between him and Chen Jingke.

Chen Jingke's 70% was split with Zhu Yuanzhang's 190%, with him taking 100% and Zhu taking 90%.

However, the protection fee he collected was not expensive, and merchant ships passing through the Whale Sea would pay it voluntarily.

Those who do not pay are actually a minority.

He was very curious. In this day and age, is there anyone who dares not to pay him protection money?
In the past, he would not have bothered to care, but today he was in a bad mood and just used it to cheer himself up.

When I came to the deck, I saw two large ships sailing on the sea in the distance.

The other party must have discovered them, because they did not hide but drove towards them.

"It's not running away?" Juntaro Matsushita immediately became interested and raised the telescope to look over.

Then a lot of question marks appeared in my mind.

Where did this beggar come from?
The boat was old and full of patches. The railings on the deck were gone, and the canvas was covered with patches. He would not even bother to use such a boat when he was a pirate.

The people on the boat were wearing tattered clothes, looking like beggars.

At this time, these "beggars" were gathered on the deck, jumping and dancing at them, as if cheering something.

The plot of "Pirates of Malacca" involuntarily emerged in Juntaro Matsushita's mind.

Could this be the Black Pearl and the Flying Henan?

Then he threw the thought away. There was no such thing in reality.

As the king of the whale sea, he immediately thought of a possibility.

The other party must have been drifting on the sea for a long time without any supplies, so he looks like this.

Looking closely at the styles of these two ships, they do not look like merchant ships.

Could it be an expedition ship?

In recent years, exploration has become popular in the Ming Dynasty, and more and more people have taken the initiative to go out to sea.

It’s just that most people just hang out in the nearby waters, and few dare to go far away.

But with a large base, there will always be a few who are not afraid of death and go to the open sea.

Perhaps that is the case with these two ships.

According to the default rule, the exploration ships are protected by the Ming Navy and can travel around the world.

This made Juntaro Matsushita a little disappointed.

But since he had encountered it, he decided to help if he could.

It’s not that he is kind-hearted, but Chen Bandu must like him to do this.

His subordinates were also disappointed when they saw that the fun was over.

However, they didn't want to get into trouble, so they had to send a speedboat to communicate.

Soon the subordinates brought back a message that they were an expedition team sent by the Governor of Temasek, Fu An.

The captain's name is Chen Yonghe.

The boat has run out of fresh water and hopes to get help.

When Juntaro Matsushita learned that it was indeed an exploration ship, he completely gave up his plan to have fun and waved his hand, planning to ask his men to send some fresh water supplies over.

but……

Suddenly he remembered something and sat up straight:
"The person sent by Governor Fu? Chen Yonghe? Is he still alive?"

As someone who makes a living on the water, one has to pay attention to Temasek's movements.

Fu An funded quite a few expedition teams, many of which went north.

Juntaro Matsushita had provided assistance to these expeditions and was familiar with their movements.

The only one was Chen Yonghe's expedition team which left two years ago.

After going to Beihai, he never came back.

Everyone thought they had died in a foreign country, but...

They actually came back?
Upon hearing the news, Juntaro Matsushita could no longer sit still and immediately ordered the fleet to move closer to the enemy.

As soon as the command was issued, I felt that it might cause misunderstanding, so I withdrew it and changed it to another one:
"Tell Captain Chen that I am Juntaro Matsushita and invite him to join us on board."

Watching the messenger leave, Juntaro Matsushita said with anticipation in his heart.

I hope it really is Chen Yonghe. Maybe the opportunity for me to return to Luoyang will come from him.
-
The two ships naturally belonged to Chen Yonghe and his team. Looking at the familiar sea area, everyone on the ship was so excited that their eyes were filled with tears.

Two years passed, two full years, and they finally came back alive.

They naturally knew that the ship opposite them was most likely Juntaro Matsushita's pirate ship, but they were still very excited.

For them, seeing Japan meant that they were not far from the Ming Dynasty, which was almost like going home.

But at this time, they were already exhausted and were only holding on with their last breath.

When the other party sent someone to inquire about their identities, Chen Yonghe did not hide anything, as there was really nothing to hide.

When he first set out, he met with Juntaro Matsushita and the two had a very pleasant conversation.

As for the request for fresh water replenishment...

They don't lack fresh water, but clean fresh water.

What he didn't expect was that Juntaro Matsushita himself was right across from him.

Now he felt more at ease and boarded the opponent's speedboat and headed to the other side.

He recognized Juntaro Matsushita at a glance and greeted him quickly.

Matsushita Juntaro was also surprised to see him and said:
"Captain Chen, why are you so embarrassed?"

Chen Yonghe's face showed an indescribable expression, and he said:

"After two years of drifting at sea, I was lucky to come back alive."

Matsushita Juntaro shared the same sentiment and said, "Yeah, two years, everyone thought you guys had already..."

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back. Can you tell me about your experiences in the past two years?"

"I've never been to such a faraway place."

Chen Yonghe said cautiously: "We first went to the Far North Sea. It is very cold there, and the sea surface is covered with ice and snow all year round."

"…So we retreated back to Liugui Country and explored eastward from there."

"But the further we go, the stronger the storms become. There are strong winds there for most of the year..."

"Fortunately, there are islands from time to time for us to hide..."

"More than two years passed like this, one ship was lost, and a quarter of the crew was killed..."

At this point, he said with a bitter face: "It's miserable... miserable."

It's not that he is pretending, but it's really difficult.

Juntaro Matsushita felt the same way. He once sent people to the north to investigate, and found that it was indeed cold and stormy.

It was indeed not easy for Chen Yonghe and his friends to live in such an environment for two years.

He could hear the untruth in the other person's words.

Chen Yonghe must be hiding something from him.

But he did not ask any further questions. How could someone tell him the results of two years of exploration for no reason?

However, he did not give up his plan, but asked:

"Are you planning to return to Nanyang, or go directly to Luoyang?"

Without waiting for Chen Yonghe to answer, he said, "It will take almost half a year to go from here to Nanyang and then to Luoyang."

"If we go directly to Luoyang, it will only take less than two months, so it is better to go directly to Luoyang."

"I'm going to Luoyang, so we can go together and I can take care of you."

"It's easy to deal with Governor Fu. Just write a letter and I'll send someone to deliver it quickly. I believe he will understand you."

In fact, this is also a test. If Chen Yonghe has any major discovery, he will definitely go to Luoyang to claim credit and ask for reward.

If I heard him suggest going directly to Luoyang, I would definitely hesitate.

On the contrary, it proves that Chen Yonghe did not make any major discovery.

Sure enough, when Chen Yonghe heard his proposal, he did hesitate.

From Whale Sea to Temasek, and from Temasek to Luoyang, the distance is really too far.

If you can go directly to Luoyang, you will save most of your time.

But... they were an expedition team funded by Fu An. If he left Fu An and went directly to Luoyang, he would be morally guilty.

Just by looking at his expression, Juntaro Matsushita knew that he had guessed right and was very happy.

Finally I have a reason to go back to Luoyang.

He quickly said, "Brother Chen, even if you don't consider yourself, you have to consider others."

"Brothers have been traveling for two years. Can you hold up physically?"

"Can you bear to let them fall on the eve of victory?"

Chen Yonghe's heart tightened, he really was right.

The health of many brothers really can't stand such torture.

How could I disregard the lives of my brothers for my own selfish reasons?
Thinking of this, he finally nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Brother Matsushita."

(End of this chapter)