Smuggling Daming

Seeing Zhou Zhong stand up to speak, this surprised Li Dongyang and others. They all looked up at Zhengde at the moment, and found that Zhou Zhong should have the tacit approval of Zhengde, so they all stood there and looked at Zhou Zhong. , want to hear what he has to say?

I saw Zhou Zhong cleared his throat, and then said: "My lords may not be aware that the Portuguese came here this time with bad intentions. They originally lived in Europe, which is the continent where the Great Qin was recorded in the ancient books. Our Great Ming Porcelain, silk and tea, as well as Nanyang spices and other specialties, are very valuable gifts in Europe, such as tea, for example, the same weight of tea is more expensive than the same important gold, and it is precisely because of this, So the Europeans have always wanted to open up a route to the South Seas of Ming Dynasty..."

Zhou Zhong tried his best to use a language that Li Dongyang and the others could understand, and slowly explained the reasons why the Portuguese arrived in Nanyang and Daming, and emphasized that Europeans always put interests first, and they are also very cruel and easy to kill. One point, Zhou Zhong deliberately described the actions of the Portuguese in India and other places in detail, and there is no need for him to exaggerate. In the eyes of Li Dongyang and other Confucian scholars who pay attention to benevolence, justice and morality, the Portuguese are simply a group of brutal beasts. Compared with the Yuan and Mongolian troops of that year.

After talking about the cruelty of the grape people, Zhou Zhong explained the importance of the city of Malacca, and finally concluded: "My lords, the words above the servants are absolutely true, Jin Yiwei Qianhu Wu Shan has been by my side, He can prove that I am not lying. In addition, everyone must have understood by now. As long as the Portuguese are prevented from occupying the city of Malacca, they can prevent them from invading Nanyang, and as long as Portugal cannot occupy Nanyang, then they will not be able to pose a threat to my coast of Ming Dynasty, so this The aid to the city of Malacca this time is not only to protect the vassal state, but also to protect the coastal safety of my Ming Dynasty, presumably all the adults do not want my Ming Dynasty to become the second India, right?"

After listening to Zhou Zhong's [-]% true and [-]% exaggerated descriptions, Li Dongyang and others also frowned. They were the same as Zhengde before.For the first time, it was discovered that the southern coastal area had another powerful enemy besides the Japanese invasion in the early years. If those Portuguese occupied Southeast Asia and reached the coast of Daming, and burned, killed and looted like they did in the coast of India, then Daming might have to fight again. Pay a heavy price for these robbers who came from afar.

I saw several cabinet ministers pondering for a while, and finally Li Dongyang said: "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for the information. According to what the Portuguese have done, when they reach the Daming sea area, they are indeed very likely to become confidantes." It is a serious problem, the imperial court should take precautions early, and preventing them from entering Nanyang is naturally an excellent way, but the treasury is empty now, and there is really no money to support the naval expedition!"

Seeing that although Li Dongyang agrees with his analysis of the Portuguese, he still does not want to send troops on the grounds that the treasury is empty.Zhou Zhong sighed helplessly and did not speak, because Zhengde was needed to perform next.

"Mr. Li, you don't have to worry about the military salary. All the expenses for the naval aid to the city of Malacca this time will be funded by my internal treasury. At that time, the cabinet only needs to make arrangements!" At this time, Zhengde said with a smile, but When he was speaking, his eyes looked at Zhou Zhong with some jealousy.

I heard that Zhengde was willing to use the internal treasury to fund this dispatch.Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe and others also showed puzzled expressions, because as far as they knew.Although there is some money in the inner treasury of the palace, the expenditure of the eye disease His Majesty the Emperor is also very huge. The little money in the inner treasury is not enough to support the naval expedition.

However, Li Dongyang soon noticed Zhengde's eyes looking at Zhou Zhong, and immediately understood in his heart that although there was no money in the inner treasury of the palace, Zhou Zhong in front of him was a smuggler who dominated the southern coast. Zhou Zhong must have a huge amount of wealth in his hands, and it is not difficult to support the navy's expedition.

At this time, Zhou Zhong felt that his heart was bleeding. Zhengde had already said before that Li Dongyang and the others would probably refuse to send troops on the grounds that the treasury was empty. In the end, Zhou Zhong was cruel and said that he was willing to pay privately. He is happy and jealous, he is happy because with this money, he is sure to convince Li Dongyang and others, but he is jealous because he is a majestic emperor, and he is not as rich as Zhou Zhong. You must know that those sailors have at least It cost several 10 taels, and the inner treasury in the palace couldn't come up with so much money all at once.

Of course, although the money came from Zhou Zhong, it must be in the name of the internal treasury. Otherwise, with Zhou Zhong’s identity, he would personally donate to the army. charged with treason.Therefore, Zhou Zhong can only give the silver to Zhengde first, and then ask Zhengde to contribute the money in the name of the internal treasury.

Now that the talk has reached this point, and Li Dongyang and others were fooled by Zhou Zhong's previous words, they believed that the Portuguese were a potential threat, so they had no reason to object anymore, and now several people discussed in low voices After a few words, they finally nodded and passed the decision to send troops.

In the end, Li Dongyang said again: "Since Your Majesty used the silver from the internal treasury to pay for the army, the ministers will naturally do their best to handle this matter well. However, sending troops is a major event after all. I don't know which general Your Majesty will appoint to lead the army. How should the navy be dispatched after the expedition?"

Hearing that Li Dongyang finally asked if it was on time, Zhu Houzhao smiled proudly at Zhou Zhong, and immediately said to several ministers: "This time the troops are dispatched differently. After all, this is the first time that Ming Dynasty sent troops to aid a country in Nanyang." , and the army is also dominated by navy, and the distance is far away, so there must be a special person in charge."

Emperor Zhengde paused at this point, and then continued with a serious face: "I intend to temporarily appoint an Admiral of the Four Seas to lead my Daming Navy. As for all matters of this army, the Admiral of the Four Seas will also supervise it. Officials from all over the world must cooperate with the military orders of the Admiral of the Four Seas. If someone dares to disobey the order, the Admiral of the Four Seas has the right to temporarily imprison him and assign other officials to take over the local government affairs. In the future, I will send a censor to verify. If it is true, I will definitely punish him severely No loan!"

Li Dongyang and the others were not surprised to hear that Zhengde wanted to appoint a special official to manage the dispatch of troops, but when they heard that this so-called Admiral of the Four Seas could order officials from all over the coast, and even had the power to punish them, they were all very excited. Surprised in his heart, he secretly thought that the power of the Admiral of the Four Seas was too great, even greater than the governor who was known as the great official of the border.

Thinking that Admiral of the Four Seas holds such great power, Li Dongyang and the others also became more cautious, and they were also thinking about the candidate for Admiral of the Four Seas. Yang Tinghe took the lead in saying, "Your Majesty, the Admiral of the Four Seas holds such great power. I thought it was necessary to appoint a loyal I don’t know if Your Majesty has someone in mind? If not, I would like to recommend someone!”

Regarding Yang Tinghe's initiative to recommend the candidate for Admiral of the Four Seas, Zhengde laughed and said: "No need, I already have a candidate in my mind." It is a great achievement, and he is also very familiar with maritime affairs, so I decided to appoint him as Admiral of the Four Seas, to lead the dispatch of troops this time!"

"What?" Li Dongyang and the others were stunned to hear that Zhengde broke the rules and promoted a smuggler to be the admiral of the world, and the other party was only a young man of sixteen or seventeen. Trust your ears.Although Admiral of the Four Seas is only a temporary official position, he is still considered a high official in the frontiers. How could it be so childish to let a young man with only a reputation as a scholar take up the position?

"Your Majesty, absolutely not. Although Young Master Zhou has made meritorious service to the court, the court can use other methods to reward him. Moreover, Admiral of the Four Seas has a heavy responsibility and must be held by an experienced veteran. At Young Master Zhou's age, it may be difficult for him to take on this important task! "Li Dongyang had a good impression of Zhou Zhong before, so he was more polite, just saying that he was too young and inexperienced.

But in comparison, other people spoke more directly, and Yang Tinghe also persuaded at this time: "Your Majesty, think twice, Zhou Zhong is not an official of the court, he only has the reputation of a scholar at most, and he also participated in the For smuggling, if His Majesty handed over such an important position as Admiral of the World to Zhou Zhong, I am afraid it will cause an uproar in the government and the public, and not only Zhou Zhong will be accused by the world, but even His Majesty will be accused by others!"

As soon as Yang Tinghe's words fell, Liu Zhong, Liang Chu and others also objected one after another. There are three reasons for the opposition. The first is that Zhou Zhong's background is too low, and he is not an official of the court, so he cannot rashly take on important responsibilities. Zhong is too young to take on a big responsibility. The third point is that although Zhou Zhong has contributed to the court, it is not enough for him to take on the important task of Admiral of the Four Seas.

For the opposition of several cabinet ministers, Zhengde and Zhou Zhong had long been prepared, and their reasons for objecting were sufficient. If the positions of the two sides were reversed, even Zhengde and Zhou Zhong would object like Li Dongyang and the others.

However, regarding this objection, Zhengde and Zhou Zhong had discussed it long ago, and even thought about the reasons for rebutting point by point, only to see Emperor Zhengde suddenly snorted heavily, which made Li Dongyang and the others quiet down, and then said: " The reasons for the elders’ opposition are indeed very good, but since I appointed Zhou Zhong as Admiral of the Four Seas, I naturally have my own reasons!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, yours Support is my greatest motivation.)