I have a cornucopia

Chapter 340 King Yang Plays a Trick on the Queen
The result of King Yang's giving up military power over a cup of wine was as peaceful as King Zhao's doing.

No one from the hereditary military commanders in various places resisted.

Firstly, I don’t have the ability, and secondly, I don’t have the ambition to do so.

The fundamental reason why the military leaders under Zhao Da accepted the offer of giving up their military power with a cup of wine was that they were tired of the conflicts in the chaotic times. Similarly, the hereditary military generals in various places were also tired of the conflicts in the chaotic times. This was not an invasion by foreign races. They were ministers of the Zhu family. It was also the Zhu family's order that they should hand over their power. They only lost the right to rule over the military households, but their land and wealth were not affected.

Then what are you making a fuss about?
Wouldn’t it be good to accept reality and become a rich man?

Of course, they are not difficult to deal with; what is difficult to deal with are the feudal lords.

But for the vassal states...

If it's difficult to solve, then don't solve it.

King Yang is a vassal himself, why is he in a hurry to get rid of the vassal states?

At this point, the Ming Dynasty returned to peace.

For the next decade, the empire basically licked its wounds, as tens of millions of war refugees returned to their homelands to rebuild their homes, and new crops and new technologies spread.

Although natural disasters continue to occur, thanks to the drastic reduction in population...

Although it's a bit weird to say this.

However, the Ming Dynasty had been in chaos for more than 20 years, with countless bloodshed and killings, and cities being emptied due to natural disasters and wars. This did greatly alleviate the famine. After all, the remaining population was enough to get better land. In addition, the fishery and canned food processing industries, as well as food from overseas trade, were constantly pouring in. There were fewer and fewer people starving to death, and even more and more immigrants were encouraged by the court to open up foreign countries.

Especially the Zheng family's development of a certain island made this kind of thing more and more attractive.

The sugar industry there brought huge wealth to the Zheng family and the Fujian gentry behind them.

After all, as long as it is profitable, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty are also fond of exploring.

Including expanding into the Western Regions, for this purpose King Yang even rebuilt the Seven Guards of Guanxi, which was nothing more than giving titles to the chiefs of the Oirats Mongols, but he did not really station troops in the Western Regions. He also sent troops to escort envoys to comfort the tribes in the Western Regions, but it was actually symbolic. He only sent 500 cavalrymen, all wearing plate armor and carrying flintlock rifles as the envoys' guards, and the actual safety was handed over to Gushri Khan, who had already paid tribute, and the latter also needed the help of the Ming Dynasty to declare his authority as the leader of the Oirats Mongols.

He is the Prince of Ming Dynasty.

However, this guard was still sufficient, and soon all the tribes in the Western Regions resumed paying tribute.

Including Ge Erdan's father. As for Ge Erdan, he should be studying Buddhism currently.

In the final analysis, the Western Regions were not the focus. It was enough to establish their submission to the Ming Dynasty. The rest could be done slowly. The focus should be on the South Seas. Therefore, it became a routine for the Ming Dynasty navy to comfort the South Seas. At the beginning, it was handed over to the Zheng family, but it soon became a real navy. Moreover, it was forced to require the vassal states along the way to provide port garrisons to protect them. After all, the Dutch and the British were threatening them. As their suzerain states, it was reasonable to protect them, and it was also reasonable for them to provide protection fees. As for other extraterritoriality, trade exclusivity, and no-tariff rights, they were all what the Ming Dynasty subjects wanted. In short, all of these had to be matched.

Besides, they don’t have to pay customs duties when trading at the Ming port.

But you have to make a contribution.

As a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, of course we must make contributions to Her Majesty the Queen.

King Yang stipulated that the donation should be in the form of grain.

Moreover, the Queen would also give them rewards, such as some rare treasures, which were actually waste items from Yang Feng's mess, such as patterns cut from packaging bags, Buddha statues made from melted plastic, in short, all of this kind.

They are still grateful!

These unscrupulous businessmen won't lose money, and they can still cheat others when they go back.

In fact, selling these things overseas has always been an important source of income for the Yang family.

Therefore, it is not uncommon for plastic Buddha statues to be enshrined in temples in some small countries in Southeast Asia, and for European aristocrats to treasure modern printed materials.

As for Jianlu...

Facing the increasing pressure from the Ming army, Jirgalang, who retreated to Hetuala, finally chose to completely abandon the east of the Yalu River. With his limited strength, it was impossible for him to defend the Yalu River. Moreover, the Ming army was getting stronger and stronger at sea, and could land at any time and cut off his Qing Dynasty in half. Instead of continuing to defend Hetuala, it was better to withdraw to Korea. In the end, the Qing Dynasty burned Hetuala in anger and even caused a forest fire, and then withdrew to Korea. In order to survive, they began to become pirates, constantly attacking the coast of Japan to maintain their finances.

After restoring the Yalu River defense line, the Ming Dynasty did not move forward, but only helped Korea maintain its small corner of Jeolla, and then watched the Qing Dynasty play the new generation of Daoyi invasion.

Even sell the stolen goods.

After all, our Qing Dynasty mainly harassed the west coast of Japan.

Japan is not a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

It is estimated that after regaining his sense in Japan, Jirgalang even occupied Oki Island and tried to use it as a base to seize Iwami Ginzan. Finally, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who could no longer tolerate it, had to dispatch troops to counterattack. However, how could his samurai, who had difficulty dealing with rebellious civilians in Shimabara, defeat the Eight Banners warriors of the Qing Dynasty who had been repeatedly trained by the Ming army?

Tokugawa Iemitsu launched three counterattacks on Oki Island in three years, but all ended in failure.

Then he died with hatred in his heart.

The Qing-Japanese War eventually turned into a protracted war.

When the Qing Dynasty used the Eight Banners and the Army, it had become a replica of the Ming and Qing wars. Relying on plundering, especially the trade of Japanese slaves, the Qing Dynasty was like an infected wound, corroding the body of Japan...

The twentieth year of the Ming Dynasty.

night.

Haizhou.

Countless newly installed electric lights illuminate the dock.

Outside the dock, there was a fire that looked like a vast sea of ​​stars.

"Long live the Emperor!" Amid the cheers of countless subjects, the Empress, who had already announced that she would never marry, walked down the gangway holding the arm of the King of Qi.

Behind her was a steamship, a dragon boat built by the King of Qi for Her Majesty the Queen. However, due to the lack of propeller technology, it used paddle wheels and sails. However, it was only used for near-shore sailing, which was sufficient.

“How many people does this take?”

Her Majesty the Queen looked at the endless flames in front of her with some shock.

It's really spectacular.

She couldn't even see where the edges of the flames were.

Outside the dock area, in the night, there were torches everywhere, densely packed together, flickering in the wind because of the uncertain brightness, like stars.

"Three million. In order to welcome Your Majesty, I have ordered all the people in my fiefdom, regardless of gender, age or status, to come to Haizhou to see His Majesty. Isn't it a surprise? I invite Your Majesty to come to Haizhou in the evening just to let Your Majesty see this scene."

The King of Qi said with a smile.

Her Majesty the Queen smiles like a flower.

"Are you imitating King You of Zhou? King You of Zhou played tricks on the princes with beacons, and you are playing tricks on the emperor with beacons?"

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She said with a smile.

The guards and palace maids behind pretended not to hear.

"Just tell me whether it's a surprise or not?"

The King of Qi said.

"If the princess was here too, I would be even more surprised."

Her Majesty said.

The King of Qi gave a scumbag smile.

Of course, Her Majesty the Queen was just talking. In fact, she and Princess Qi are as close as sisters. She said so herself.

"Come on, hold me, I want to see my subjects!"

Her Majesty said.

Then, like an old Buddha, she held the arm of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi and walked towards the boundless sea of ​​stars consisting of more than three million people with the guards and palace maids behind her. In order to give her this surprise, the Prince of Qi even mobilized all the men, women, old and young in Lunan, which was his fiefdom. These places were so far away that it would take more than ten days to walk to them. They had to bring their own dry food because there were not enough houses to live in the local area and they had to build sheds themselves. Fortunately, there was money to be received. Everyone who came to welcome the emperor had three taels of silver. Therefore, in order to give Her Majesty the Queen this surprise, the Prince of Qi had to pay tens of millions of taels for this item alone.

What a luxury!
But now the King of Qi is so poor that he only has money left, which is only 10 million taels.

It's enough to make the Queen smile.

In ancient times, King You of Zhou played tricks on the princes with beacons. Today, the King of Qi gambles tens of millions to win the Queen's smile.

Just as they were about to step forward, Her Majesty the Queen suddenly shook. She instinctively turned her head and said coquettishly to the King of Qi, but then she was stunned because the King of Qi's face changed drastically...

"Earthquake, don't move!"

he shouted.

After saying this, he hurriedly hugged the queen.

The latter also instinctively threw himself into his arms.

The ground beneath their feet was shaking violently.

"It's all your fault that you disturbed the world!"

Her Majesty the Queen cried in the arms of King Qi.

"Forget it. I knew there was going to be an earthquake and tricked them all out on purpose."

The King of Qi hugged her and said.

Of course, there is no need to make this explanation public.

In short, while the King of Qi was spending tens of millions of dollars to forcibly drive away three million people and hold a welcoming ceremony for the empress in Haizhou, the entire southern Shandong, Xuhai and other states, centered on Tancheng, which belonged to his territory, including his hometown of Andongwei, suffered a large-scale earthquake. Tancheng was even razed to the ground, and his old nest, Andongwei City, was also mostly razed to the ground.

The casualties were minimal, with only about a thousand people dead in total. This was mainly because everyone was in Haizhou when the earthquake occurred. Haizhou was on the edge of the earthquake zone, so the losses were small and everyone was outside at the time.

But it was obviously his doing.

It was his behavior that was costly and costly that angered God, so an earthquake occurred as a warning.

Immediately afterwards, there was criticism from both the government and the public.

The King of Qi was annoyed and finally had to resign. He also announced that he would hand over his fiefdom and only retain his title as an apology. However, Her Majesty the Queen refused his resignation in consideration of his hard work and great contributions, but accepted the fiefdom and moved it to America, which had already been developed.

At this time, the other vassal kings came to their senses and the Prince of Qin immediately handed over his fiefdom. However, as the actual younger brother of Her Majesty the Queen, he was immediately moved to the Western Regions. As for whether the various tribes in the Western Regions agreed or not, His Majesty the Prince of Qin's guards and the new Governor-General of the Western Regions Li Dingguo would ask them.

This move by the two kings of Qin and Qi officially marked the beginning of the process of the vassal states handing over their fiefdoms and moving their fiefdoms to other places.

The Ming Dynasty gradually regained its unity.

(A new book has been published, "Ancestors, Please Don't Climb Out Again", which has been traveled through time many times, so I won't link it on my phone.)
(End of this chapter)