Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In July of the sixth year of Hongzhi, an event of great influence actually happened.

Just when many people thought that Wang Zhi had been marginalized, they did not know that Wang Zhi, who had always been in charge of Indochina, had never lost contact with the Forbidden City, and even often received replies from the emperor.

During these years of obscurity, Wang Zhi not only trained batches of elite soldiers, but also established multiple Ming military bases in various countries in Southeast Asia.

In view of the fact that more than 70% of the world is unclaimed land, it is actually very easy for the Ming Dynasty to expand its territory. It just needs to send troops and people to occupy the land and become the king.

It's just that in this era, food and governance were the most severe tests that the Ming Dynasty had to face after occupying the territory.

Why were North Korea and Annan successively included in China's territory, but finally left China? A very important reason is that the distance between the two places is too long, and transportation is often interrupted, resulting in poor food supply and easy loss of sovereignty.

Even though the powerful Yuan Dynasty occupied Myanmar, the two places were blocked by dense forests, and the Yuan court was unable to break through the layers of geographical obstacles to form effective suppression.

As for military rations, it was also a very serious problem. Rich places like the south of the Yangtze River naturally did not need to worry about military rations, but the garrisons in Annan and Myanmar needed the Central Plains Dynasty to transport food.

Just the cost of transporting grain from Jiangnan to the capital can be as high as 80%. Without a canal connecting the two places, the amount of grain lost is an astronomical figure.

On the other hand, North Korea and Annan only need to seize power, and then it will be easy to block the intersection with the Central Plains dynasty, thereby holding on to a corner and establishing themselves as kings.

Although the Nanyang countries have certain mineral resources, Guangdong is thousands of miles away from the capital, and the Nanyang countries are still separated from Guangdong by a vast ocean. Even if they occupy these small countries, they are isolated overseas.

At this stage, the best development model is to focus on developing itself, suppress the crazy ambition of expansion, and instead develop and expand step by step.

The garrison base in Nanyang and the Ming City in Luzon communicated with each other. Although the Ming Dynasty never invaded any country, it was already the true king of Nanyang.

In particular, Malacca has built a military base and set up a customs agency. All merchant ships traveling between the Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean need to pay taxes.

Just like this, under Zhu Youtang's instruction, Wang Zhi did not raise troops to destroy the country, but completely controlled Nanyang by building military bases.

There were inevitably some discordant voices during this period, but as Wang Zhi sent out huge ships and cannons, the kings and tribal leaders of all Nanyang countries bowed to the Ming Dynasty.

The current sphere of influence has already covered the island of Kalimantan. As they continue to penetrate southward, they have actually discovered the Australian mainland.

He just came from the capital with the emperor's imperial edict. After receiving the imperial edict, Wang Zhi handed over the affairs at hand, and then led a fleet to leave Nanyang in a mighty manner.

The August sea breeze is blowing from the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Wang Zhi, wearing a python robe, stood on the deck, looking like a handsome young man. His eyes were deep at the moment, looking towards the sea to the north.

He was no longer the factory supervisor of the West Factory, nor the guarding eunuch of Indochina. Instead, he was officially appointed as the first Governor of the Indian Ocean by Zhu Youtang's decree.

Governor of the Indian Ocean was a brand-new position in the Ming Dynasty, but its weight could be equal to that of the Governor of the East China Sea and the Governor of the Americas, and even had greater authority.

It is worth mentioning that this appointment caused a lot of controversy in the court.

Although Xu Shiying was appointed governor of the East China Sea, and there were some objections from the court, Xu Shiying still carried the status of the prince of Dingguo.

On the other hand, Wang Zhi was neither a member of the Civil Service Group nor a core member of the Wu Xun Group. Instead, he was easily castrated by the Civil Service Group and the Wu Xun Group.

Throughout the ages, except for eunuchs like Wynn who knew how to build good relationships with the civil service group, eunuchs rarely had a positive image and were hated to the point of gnashing their teeth every time.

Naturally, Wang Zhi's reputation needs no introduction. When he was the director of the West Factory, he cracked down on a large number of corrupt officials, and even brought the descendants of the former chief minister Yang Rong to justice.

Even in the Hongzhi Dynasty, after Emperor Hongzhi was resurrected, Wang Yue staged the massacre of hundreds of officials in Yangzhou in one day, and he himself watched Liu Daxia's family being burned alive in Huguang.

Now that he was awarded such an important position, and the overseas governor had far more power than the domestic governor, it naturally made many civil servants jealous, so there were voices of opposition.

"Wang Zhi has great military talent, but to be appointed Governor of the Indian Ocean today is really an act of humiliation. This matter must not be discussed further!"

These objections naturally reached the ears of the emperor, and seemed to want to shake the emperor's decision, but Zhu Youtang expressed his stance very strongly.

Through so many years of observation, although he did find that Wang Zhi had certain psychological problems. Wang Zhi was really cruel to some corrupt officials, but he still had a very high sense of belonging to the emperor and the country.

While presiding over the situation in the Indo-China Peninsula, he used many creepy methods to face the remnants of the Le Dynasty, so that the remnants of the Le Dynasty no longer dared to rebel.

He only showed a friendly side to the troops stationed in Indochina and other places, and was able to safeguard the interests of the Ming Dynasty at all times.

In fact, there is another advantage to using eunuchs as overseas governors.

Eunuchs have stronger loyalty, so they may fail in business overseas, but there is no need to worry too much about them becoming kings after they grow in strength.

Don't underestimate the greed of human nature. Once they see the opportunity to establish themselves as kings, no matter how loyal their ministers are, they will not be willing to put their fate in the hands of others.

Besides, more capable governors are needed overseas.

At home, the governor can serve as a decoration. Even if he does nothing all day long, it may not have a negative impact on the overall situation.

But when he goes overseas, the governor not only needs to have excellent management skills, but also needs very strong military command capabilities.

Although Xu Shiying, who was born in Wu Xun, had some unsatisfactory times at first, the current East China Sea Governor's Mansion has become the absolute overlord of the East China Sea, even occupying Kyushu Island, and continuing the results of gold mining on Dongji Island.

Although Wang Zhi was a eunuch, he had already proven his military capabilities through his battle with Wang Yue's Weininghai and his operations in Indochina over the years.

On the other hand, the civil servants who keep worrying about the country and the people are good at writing articles. If the position of overseas governor is given to them, there is no hope that they can bring surprises.

Because of this, Zhu Youtang, despite all objections, allowed Wang Zhi to serve as the Governor of the Indian Ocean, and was implementing a very important plan.

After a fleet of ten thousand people came in from Malacca, it entered the Indian Ocean, and then went north along the east coast of the Indian Ocean.

Since there was sufficient food and fresh water on board, the fleet did not need to resupply at the port in Siam, but went all the way north.

"My Lord Governor, what are your orders?" A burly general strode over and said respectfully.

Although Wang Zhi was not favored by the civil servant group, his reputation among the generals was actually very good.

Looking at the life of this eunuch, it is wonderful.

When he was young, Wang Zhi had already been placed in high regard by Emperor Xianzong. During his tenure as the factory supervisor of Xichang, he frantically cracked down on corrupt officials, causing all civil and military officials to become frightened.

The first time he led an army on an expedition, he defeated Jianzhou Jurchens until they cried for their father and mother. After joining forces with Wang Yue, he even dared to lead his army deep into the prairie and almost killed Dayan Khan.

The civil service group finally defeated Wang Zhi, forcing Xianzong to send Wang Zhi to Nanjing and demote him one after another, causing the power eunuch to fall into the mud.

Who would have thought that Emperor Hongzhi, who had just ascended the throne, would appoint Wang Zhi. Although he was only the eunuch guarding Nanjing, Wang Zhi later participated in many major events.

Successfully learning the hiding place of Annan's files from Liu Daxia's mouth. Although the information was known to Wang Zeng in advance and was transferred, it can be regarded as an achievement of Wang Zhi.

After serving as the eunuch guarding the Indochina Peninsula for many years, he was now granted a new position by the emperor, as the governor of the Indian Ocean, personally commanding 10,000 elite Ming navy personnel.

At this time, the sea breeze blew from the west and picked up Wang Zhi's hat string.

"Lin Cheng, are you and your subordinates ready?" Wang Zhi did not look at the approaching general, but looked into the distance.

"My Lord Governor, if we can't win, I will die to apologize for my humble position!" Lin Cheng knew that Wang Zhi only valued the results of things, so he expressed his stance seriously.

He turned out to be a child of an insignificant military family in the Shenji Camp of Nanjing. Although he was born with extraordinary strength and a little knowledge of literature, his family was poor and impoverished, and he had no future at all.

If there were no accidents, then he would be like other low-level soldiers in Nanjing, receiving a meager salary every day and spending his life in a muddle.

But God opened his eyes and he gained Wang Zhi's respect.

Under Wang Zhi's recommendation, it can be said that he has been promoted all the way. From an insignificant commander-in-chief, it was like cheating in life, and now he was ordered by the imperial court to be the commander-in-chief of the Indian Ocean, with 10,000 soldiers under his command, and even owned huge ships and guns.

Although this expedition to the Baigu Kingdom was an ocean-going battle, he knew that this battle could only succeed and not fail. It is not only a battle between him and Wang Zhi to clear his name, but also a battle for the Ming Dynasty to defend its glory.

No matter how many soldiers the Baigu Kingdom has, no matter how many war elephants they have, they must destroy the Baigu Kingdom, and it will also become the new headquarters of the Indian Ocean Governor's Palace.

"How are the arrangements for the matter assigned by the Za family? Is everything going well?" Wang Zhi turned to look at Lin Cheng and asked with great importance.

Lin Cheng knew what matter Wang Zhi was referring to, and immediately raised his eyelids and said: "Don't worry, Lord Governor, this matter has been taken care of!"

Since the Ming Dynasty fully opened up the sea, more and more Ming merchants have sailed on the sea, and more and more merchant ships are active in Southeast Asia.

At the beginning, the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants were mainly active in Luzon Island in the east of Southeast Asia and Champa Kingdom in the west. However, with the deepening of trade, the eastern route has reached the Kingdom of Java, while the western route still left Malacca after detouring in Siam. strait.

In human exploration, it is inevitable to take some detours, but as long as exploration continues, the right path will surely be found.

Since some people bravely crossed the Strait of Malacca and reached the Indian Ocean and brought back a large amount of gold, more and more Ming Dynasty merchants chose to go to the Indian Ocean, which also opened the gold rush era in the Indian Ocean.

The afterglow of the setting sun reflected on the sparkling waters of the West Sea. A huge merchant ship came from the south and was slowly sailing into an ancient port.

Since the Indian region is closer to the Mediterranean, there has been contact as early as centuries BC. There have been trade and cultural exchanges between ancient India and the ancient Roman Empire.

Trade exchanges between the two civilizations were very frequent, mainly through the Maritime Silk Road and the Overland Silk Road.

India's exports to Rome included silk, spices, pearls, gems, ivory, etc., while Rome exported metal products, glassware, jewelry, etc. to India. This trade promoted economic prosperity and cultural exchanges between the two civilizations. .

In terms of culture, Buddhism in ancient India spread from India to Central and West Asia within a few centuries BC, eventually reaching the Roman Empire.

It was the land trade connections between ancient India and Europe and the commercial activities on the African continent that led to the existence of many ancient ports in India.

In recent years, merchants from the Ming Dynasty have flocked to India crazily. Because the ceramics and silks of the Ming Dynasty have already made Indians aware of this big eastern country, it does not make Indians feel too out of the ordinary.

A very ancient seaport in the east of India is becoming more and more prosperous, and even attracts many Arab merchants to come here to engage in trade.

It is worth mentioning that although Spain had discovered the Cape of Good Hope a few years ago and knew the sea through the east, they had not been able to overcome the storms and pirates to reach India.

On the contrary, it was the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty who took the lead and became the most active maritime merchant group in India.

When he saw Huang Yu, a merchant from the Ming Dynasty, the Arab wearing a headscarf enthusiastically stepped forward and hugged him: "Ah... my dear friend from the Ming Dynasty, I am here looking forward to your coming every day!"

"Are you looking forward to the spices from our Ming Dynasty? Don't worry, our merchants from the Ming Dynasty will keep their word!" Huang Yu naturally knew the other party's plan, but he changed the subject: "Some of my Nanyang servants have encountered some problems , I wonder if you have a doctor here?"

"Mother? If your servant is sick, there is holy water here in India!" The Arab businessman seemed very unfamiliar with this title, and he immediately reacted.

"Forget about the holy water in India, you just need to provide a few of them with shelter, food and accommodation, and I will pay you gold coins!" Huang Yu waved his hand to refuse, and then made other arrangements.

When the Arab businessman saw Huang Yu taking out the gold, he couldn't help but said with approval: "My dear friend from the Ming Dynasty, you are so kind to your servants. It is their honor for them to follow a master like you!"

"I also feel that I am a good master! Since you praised the holy water so much just now, I will give you two more gold coins. Please give them a try on the Indian holy water!" Huang Yu was in a good mood and immediately added more gold coins.

The Arab businessman's eyes brightened, and he immediately agreed hurriedly.

The faces of the five Annamites were flushed, and their bodies were covered with terrible red spots. Their bodies had begun to show symptoms such as coughing and moaning, and they were already in a state of confusion.

Since they were arranged by distinguished Ming merchants, the Arab merchants did not dare to neglect them. They immediately arranged for personnel to take care of these sick servants, and even decided to take them to the holy river for baptism.

As for the spice trade this time, they had already brought a large amount of gold.

Although a large sum of gold had to be paid to the Ming merchants, the spices were now monopolized by the Ming merchants, but they still made up to ten times the profit when shipped to Europe. (End of chapter)