Smuggling Daming

All the members of the Huang family in Malacca were arrested, but Zhengde did not destroy the entire Huang family, but killed a few people who knew Zhou Hai's inside information, such as Huang Qionghai, the head of the Huang family, and the heads of four affiliated families. All of the subordinate families are descendants of the ministers who escaped with Zhu Yunqi back then. For example, the subordinate family with the surname Chang is the descendant of Chang Yuchun, and they are still relatives of Chang Xiao.

In order to keep the family secrets from being leaked, most of the members of the Huang family did not know the secrets of their own family, let alone that their ancestor was Zhu Yunqi. However, it was for this reason that these people finally escaped. After they were captured by Zhengde and returned to Daming, they were all placed in Fengyang, the central capital, to guard Zhu's ancestral tomb. No one was allowed to contact them without his order.

After Zhou Zhong learned from Zhengde that most of the members of the Huang family were still alive, he couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief. Although they were imprisoned in Fengyang and lost their freedom, it was better than being killed by Zhengde. Maybe when Zhengde is in a better mood in the future, or when another emperor comes to power, the Huang family may be pardoned, and then they will be able to live in the territory of Ming Dynasty openly and aboveboard, and no one will care about their identities.

That night, Zhou Zhong and Zhengde chatted for a long time. At first they talked about some personal matters. For example, Zhengde told Zhou Zhong very frankly that because he was plotted by Zhou Hai, he would never want to have children in his life, and he was only as good as Zhou Zhong. He is a brother, so he has been urging Zhou Zhong to give birth to a son as soon as possible, so that he can adopt him as the crown prince, and Daming's country can be stabilized.

Hearing this, Zhou Zhong finally understood, no wonder Zhengde gave him and Wang Jinxuan a marriage in a hurry.It turned out that he wanted him to get married earlier and have children earlier, but unfortunately he didn't know that it was his imperial decree that caused him so much trouble.Fortunately, Jinxuan is an open-minded woman, and she didn't care too much about Zhou Zhong, which kept Zhou Zhong's family from causing too much trouble.

As for adopting his son to Zhengde, Zhou Zhong did not reject this point. After all, as Zhengde's only younger brother, it was his responsibility to inherit the throne.And even if the son is adopted, he is still his own son, and it will be a good thing to be the emperor of Ming Dynasty in the future.

After chatting about private affairs, Zhou Zhong and Zhengde chatted happily about business matters, especially about the situation in Southeast Asia and the Portuguese colonial behavior around the world.Zhengde was very interested, and he even felt that what Zhou Zhong said to him opened a whole new door for him and broadened his horizons.

"Second brother, what are your plans next?" Zhengde asked suddenly, only he and Queen Mother Zhang knew the inside story of his coming to Shuangyu Port this time, although Gu Dayong and others also knew some.But he definitely didn't have the guts to say it out, so Zhou Zhong's current identity was still a secret.

"Brother Huang. I think my identity should not be made public for the time being. I will still be my Admiral of the World, so that I can break the sea ban little by little according to the original plan, and at the same time develop Nanyang and resist the Portuguese invasion. But if my identity is made public If you go out, then you can only be named the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, and it is impossible to be released as an official!" Zhou Zhong thought for a while and suddenly said solemnly.

In fact, Zhou Zhong offered not to disclose his identity.Continuing to be the official position of Admiral of the Four Seas is to take a great risk, because there is an example of Zhu Di before.Therefore, Daming took very strict precautions against vassal kings. Even without the emperor's order, vassal kings from all over the country could not even leave their own fiefdoms. It was almost like going to jail, let alone hold an official position.Now that Zhou Zhong himself proposed that he still wants to be the admiral of the world who holds great power, in the eyes of others, this has violated Zhengde's taboo.

However, Zhengde was very happy when he heard Zhou Zhong's words. He laughed and patted Zhou Zhong's shoulder and said, "As expected of my brother, he even thinks the same as me. If you disclose your identity now, I'm afraid you will only become a nest in the end." The vassal king in the fief cannot be my assistant at all, and the overseas situation is complicated. Apart from you, I really can't find any reliable person to manage overseas affairs in the court, so I will wrong you for the time being, continue Helping my brother to take care of the sea affairs will not only lift the fetters of the sea ban on the imperial court, but also open up a brand new way of making money for Daming."

Speaking of overseas affairs, Zhou Zhong suddenly remembered an important matter, and immediately said to Zhengde: "Brother Huang, I heard that the Yellow River flooded again some time ago, and several state capitals along the river were affected. Many disaster victims began to flee, I wonder if this is true?"

The Yellow River was originally the mother river of the Central Plains, but after the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the massive felling of trees in the middle and upper reaches, coupled with climate changes, by the Ming Dynasty, the entire Yellow River had become a man-eating beast, and it would happen from time to time. People on both sides of the strait have suffered greatly from the flood disaster. This year, the Yellow River lost its temper again, destroying the embankment and a lot of farmland.

Hearing Zhou Zhong mention the domestic floods, Zhengde couldn't help but sighed and said, "That's right, last month, the upper reaches of the Yellow River suddenly rained, and it turned into a flood peak in the area of ​​Henan, and the rivers in the area of ​​Henan Prefecture were suddenly flooded." The embankment broke down, and more than 50 people were affected. Fortunately, the summer harvest was over at that time, and the local people still had some food in their hands. I ordered people to mobilize a batch of food from Nanyang for disaster relief, but even so, they still starved to death. Many people, and even if they can be saved for a while, the next summer planting will be delayed, that is to say, the farmers in the second half of the year will have no harvest."

When he said this, Zhengde suddenly slapped his chair fiercely and said: "Although the corn and sweet potatoes that my second brother sent last time are high-yielding grains, they can only be bred this year and cannot be widely promoted at all. Afraid of this flood!"

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Zhong suddenly smiled and said, "Brother Huang, you don't have to worry about these disaster victims. I have a way to kill two birds with one stone, but I don't know if you have the guts to do it, Brother Huang?"

"Haha, you have even learned to provoke me with words. I would like to hear it. What can you do to kill two birds with one stone?" Zhengde pointed at Zhou Zhong and said with a smile. He and Zhou Zhong get along well not only because of Zhou Zhong is his only younger brother. The most important thing is that he can feel that Zhou Zhong has never regarded him as a [-]-year-old. He speaks and does things very casually. Talking to him is like two friends who have known each other for many years, not What monarchs and ministers.

Zhou Zhong suddenly put away his smiling face at this moment, stood up with a solemn expression, and said, "Brother Emperor, I have already introduced you to some situations in Nanyang. But the products are rich, among other things, as long as one is hardworking, there is almost no need to worry about starvation. There are almost too many fruits and grains to eat, and if we Ming want to completely control Nanyang, we cannot rely on the army alone. There must be a large population, and it just so happens that we are constantly suffering from natural disasters in Ming Dynasty, so it is better to transport those victims to Malacca and other places in Southeast Asia, on the one hand, it solves the problem of food for the victims, and on the other hand, it also consolidates our rule over the local area.”

After listening to Zhou Zhong's words, Zhengde also fell into deep thought. He knows the situation in the country better than anyone else. Whenever there is a natural disaster every year, there will inevitably be victims. Although there are two high-yielding crops, sweet potatoes and corn, but want to It is impossible to fully promote these two crops within a few years, and no one can guarantee the number of victims in the past few years. If there is another riot like Liu Wu Liu Liu before, God knows what will happen What a loss to Daming.

Thinking of this, Zhengde raised his head and asked very cautiously: "Second brother, relocating the victims is not a trivial matter. This requires not only the support of the cabinet, but also careful planning, especially in the process of relocation. The resistance of the victims, otherwise it is likely to trigger a riot."

"Brother Huang, although the land of our Ming Dynasty is vast, after so many years of reproduction, the population of the Ming Dynasty has increased several times, but the amount of land is certain, and the rich and nobles have been annexing land, making more and more land. Many people lost their land and had to live by renting and planting other people's land. Whenever a famine comes, they are the first batch of victims. If this situation is not resolved, it is likely that the famine will cause even greater riots in the future. But if the population is moved overseas, this problem can be solved fundamentally, and with the migration of immigrants, our Ming Dynasty can also control a larger territory. Your Majesty is comparable!" Zhou Zhong persuaded again.

Zhou Zhong has long been aware of the predicament that Daming is facing now, and he also knows that Daming is now on the edge of a cliff, and the domestic land annexation is extremely serious. Countless poor people have lost their land and become tenant farmers. Few people who lost their land became refugees. These refugees have become the most unstable factor in Daming. They are like streams of gasoline flowing on the land of Daming. It only takes a little spark to burn the entire Daming to ashes.

According to the original history, decades after the death of Zhengde, Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant of the Wanli Dynasty, saw the plight of Ming Dynasty, so he carried out the Wanli New Deal, which made the national power of the Ming Dynasty rise for a while, and a situation of ZTE appeared. Although Zhang Juzheng died later Afterwards, he was treated unfairly, but his New Deal allowed Daming to recover a lot of vitality, and abruptly extended a lot of Daming's lifespan.

Zhou Zhong, who came from later generations, is very familiar with this period of history, and he also understands what the biggest dilemma of Ming Dynasty is. In fact, it is the contradiction between the increasing population and the intensifying land annexation. This contradiction is not insoluble, even There are many other ways, but in Zhou Zhong's view, colonizing overseas is undoubtedly one of the best ways. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)