Smuggling Daming

Zhou Zhong has already seen that although Zhengde is not very concerned about the gains and losses of Nanyang, he is worried that Portugal's strength will be too great, which will pose a new threat to the coast of Daming.

Knowing this, Zhou Zhong deliberately focused on the strength of the Portuguese troops, especially the many wars between the Portuguese and the locals in the Indian Ocean. He even emphasized the astonishing ratio of casualties in those wars. After hearing this, he was also dumbfounded, and he even suspected that Zhou Zhong was lying, but under Zhou Zhong's repeated assurances, Zhengde reluctantly believed in those amazing results.

In the end, in order to deepen Emperor Zhengde's sense of crisis, Zhou Zhong specially emphasized: "Your Majesty, although Portugal has strong sea power, it is not the largest country in Europe. It is even a small country with a population of tens of millions in Europe. There are Spain, France, England and other countries. The land of these countries is several times larger than that of Portugal, but they are constantly fighting with each other, so there is no threat to Ming Dynasty for the time being, but if Portugal can gain a firm foothold in Nanyang , then it will undoubtedly open a door to Ming Dynasty for European countries, if all these countries come here, then for me, Ming Dynasty, there will be another batch of powerful enemies from the sea!"

Anyone who understands world history knows that Zhou Zhong’s words exaggerated the threats of European countries. For example, Portugal’s national strength is advancing by leaps and bounds by monopolizing the route to Ming Dynasty. It is far superior to Europe at that time in terms of economy, politics, and technology. Among all countries, Spain has also been defeated by Portugal, so Portugal is small.But this period was Portugal's heyday, and its strength among European countries was extremely strong.

In addition, the wars between European countries are not so easy to end, especially the two old enemies of France and Britain. Although the Hundred Years War has ended, the two countries have also formed a feud, and conflicts will break out from time to time. In addition, there is no peace between France and Spain. It can be said that the whole of Europe is shrouded in the cloud of war, and there is no time to develop eastward.

It's a pity that Zhengde didn't know the inside story of the above.In his opinion, a small Portugal already possesses such a powerful strength, if those countries such as Spain and France are allowed to come to Nanyang and other places again, then the southern coast of Ming Dynasty will not be quiet anymore.

Thinking of this, Zhengde also showed a resolute expression on his face, and immediately raised his head and said to Zhou Zhong: "Zhou Zhong, since you understand the overseas situation so well, and you understand the consequences of letting the Portuguese enter Nanyang, then what can you do to stop the other party?" ?"

Hearing what Zhengde said, Zhou Zhong was overjoyed and said, "Your Majesty, the Caomin have found out the exact time when the Portuguese sent troops to Malacca. In addition, although the Portuguese have strong ships and powerful guns, their number is not large. Caomin estimates After a while, they can only send two to three thousand soldiers at most. Although these troops are enough to occupy Malacca, it is definitely not easy. If when the Portuguese attacked Malacca, our Ming navy suddenly rushed out from behind them, We can definitely defeat the opponent in one fell swoop, thereby crushing the opponent's plan to invade Nanyang!"

Hearing that Zhou Zhong even knew when the Portuguese sent troops.This made Zhengde very shocked by his intelligence ability, but unfortunately he didn't know it.What makes Zhou Zhong great is not his intelligence ability, but that he traveled to Daming from later generations, and he can remember the specific time of some historical events very clearly, so he dares to make such a guarantee.

After hearing Zhou Zhong's plan to attack Portugal, Emperor Zhengde walked back and forth in the big tent a few times, finally stopped and patted the table and said: "Okay, I agree, many countries in Southeast Asia are from the Ming Dynasty. My family, if the Portuguese are allowed to enter Nanyang, it will definitely bring endless suffering to the Nanyang countries, and it will also bring a lot of threats to my Ming's sea area in the future. After I return to the palace, I will immediately call Li Dongyang and others to discuss. Whether they agree or not, I will support you to the end!"

Hearing that Zhengde finally agreed, Zhou Zhong was also overjoyed to stand up and salute: "Your Majesty is wise, His Majesty made a decision today, which will save my Ming Dynasty infinite troubles in the future. I think Mr. Li Ge and the others will definitely understand His Majesty's decision." painstakingly!"

But just after Zhou Zhong's flattery was finished, he suddenly found that Emperor Zhengde was looking at him with a smile, and then he saw the other party say: "Zhou Zhong, when you talked about the Wa Kingdom, you only wish to represent the imperial court in contact with the Wa Kingdom. But you don’t want to be an official, but for the Portuguese invasion of Nanyang, you must be an official!”

"Eh?" Zhou Zhong was taken aback when he heard this, he couldn't understand what Zhengde meant. He just wanted to borrow troops from the court, and he didn't want to lead troops to fight in person, so why did he have to be an official?

"Hey, I know what your idea is. It's nothing more than trying to use the imperial court's troops to repel the Portuguese, and then you will still be your smuggling businessman, but Zhou Zhong, you must know that the imperial court cannot hand over the army to private command Yes, I can't convince Li Dongyang and the others just because of this. And even if I hand over the army to you, but if you are just a grassroots, why do you let those generals listen to you? If they don't obey orders during the battle , then no matter how many troops there are, I am afraid it will be difficult to repel the Portuguese, right?"

When Zhengde said this, he paused for a moment, then looked at him with a special look, and then said: "In addition, what you said just now reminded me that the threat of Ming Dynasty is not only from land, but also from sea. There may be strong enemies, and our strength on the Ming sea is too weak, so starting today, I have decided to attach importance to the development of sea power, at least to build another fleet like Zheng He, so as to protect our coast of Daming safety, and besides you, I can't think of another person who can be competent for this matter!"

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Zhong wanted to cry, but he didn't expect that what he said made Zhengde start to pay more attention to the sea, and he wanted to rebuild the Ming's sea power, and he had to leave this matter to himself , This is simply lifting a rock and shooting yourself in the foot.

"Your Majesty, although your idea of ​​rebuilding Daming's sea power is very good, it is not an easy task. Among other things, the manpower, material and financial resources required are not a small amount. With the current situation of the court, it can Do you support the rebuilding of Ming's sea power?" Zhou Zhong asked a very realistic question at this time, he didn't want to take over the matter of helping Zhengde rebuild Ming's sea power, after all, this is not a trivial matter, and the difficulties he faced It's hard to imagine, if it really comes next, it is estimated that he will have to work for Zhengde for the rest of his life.

"The imperial court's treasury is now empty, so naturally it cannot support the reconstruction of Ming's sea power!" Zhengde told the truth, and did not hide the current situation of Daming at all.

Zhou Zhong just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this, but he heard Zhengde continue: "But it doesn't matter. Although the imperial court can't provide money, it can send people. I decided to make you an admiral of the world. Daming is in Guangzhou and Ningbo. The naval forces stationed in the area will also be managed under the name of you, the admiral. As for the financial and material resources needed to rebuild the sea power, in the future, all ships that ship goods by sea will have to pay taxes to you, the admiral of the world. , don’t you have the money? Hahahaha~”

Zhengde probably was also proud of his genius idea, so he let out a series of arrogant laughter at the end, but Zhou Zhong wanted to slap himself a few times when he heard this, because what Zhengde was talking about was from the Admiral of the World The function is almost a replica of their Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. By guaranteeing smuggling for other chambers of commerce, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce is actually collecting taxes from other smuggling ships in disguise. But it is just an ordinary private chamber of commerce, and has no ability to compete with the government.

Thinking that the Admiral of the Four Seas’ Yamen first harmed his own interests, Zhou Zhong couldn’t care less, and immediately warned again: “Think twice, Your Majesty, there has never been an Admiral of the Four Seas in the official system of the Ming Dynasty, and Daming has always enforced the sea ban. This Admiral's Yamen of the Four Seas will form a conflict with the Sea Ban, and I am afraid that the ministers in the court will not agree to it!"

As soon as Zhou Zhong's words fell, Zhengde suddenly sighed and said, "Zhou Zhong, you are a smart person, but why are you confused now? Without official support, no matter how capable you are, you may only be able to develop the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce into a sea tyrant in the end, and your influence is only limited to Shuangyu Port. You are in charge of everything. Even if you don't deliberately develop the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, I am afraid that the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce will develop into a hegemony in the maritime trade industry. Even with the help of Ming's naval forces, the power of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce will be extended outward. It's not that hard to get to Europe!"

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Zhong also felt startled. He had tried his best to overestimate Zhengde before, but now it seems that he still underestimated Zhengde. He actually knew the detailed business model of his Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and he also Knowing that the establishment of Admiral Yamen of the Four Seas would harm his own interests, these were beyond Zhou Zhong's expectation, and even made him involuntarily feel awe of Zhengde.

However, Zhou Zhong is Zhou Zhong after all, and the personality that has been formed in later generations will not let him surrender to anyone easily, so he quickly adjusted his mentality, and then carefully considered Zhengde's words, and found that Zhengde's words were indeed very good. It makes sense, despite the rapid development of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, I am also planning to establish a sea alliance, but these are small troubles, and the development of the Chamber of Commerce is approaching its peak. If there is no new way out by then, I am afraid The development of the chamber of commerce will come to a halt, and the position of Admiral of the Four Seas proposed by Emperor Zhengde is an excellent opportunity for him and his chamber of commerce. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)