Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

As night falls, the majestic palaces of the Forbidden City are gently shrouded in the hazy moonlight, as if covered with a mysterious veil.

The red palace walls are looming in the night, seeming to tell the vicissitudes of history. The palace's cornices look sharper in the moonlight, like dragon wings ready to take off at any time, quietly guarding the imperial city.

The palace lantern swayed gently in the wind, emitting a soft and warm light that complemented the sparse starlight in the night sky.

The sixth house already has an owner, not only the graceful figure of a woman, but also the cry of a baby, as if to tell the world that the emperor's incense will last forever.

The light shines through the exquisite window lattice, casting the shadow of the work on the ground, like a flowing ink painting. Since there was no movement from the other five palaces tonight, the servants were talking in low voices, guessing who the emperor would be lucky to be with tonight.

The nights in the Forbidden City are not silent, but full of hidden vitality.

A gust of wind blew through the old locust tree in the palace garden, causing the leaves to sway gently and make a rustling sound, as if whispering the secrets of the palace.

Occasionally, there are footsteps walking by, and a palace maid in purple is doing her job conscientiously.

Qianqing Palace, this palace located in the center of the Forbidden City, has the largest courtyard and seems to be a small kingdom of its own.

As usual, Zhu Youtang came to Dongnuang Pavilion to handle intelligence from various places after taking a shower.

The intelligence from various places is actually biased towards the positive side. Now the imperial court is actively carrying out infrastructure construction. The oil and water in this can benefit many parties, and no one will jump out to challenge the Ming Dynasty.

Due to the promotion of planting of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes, especially these drought-resistant crops, the people were able to open up dry fields, or the harvest of their dry fields was greatly increased, and it was not too late to be grateful to the court.

If there is any dissatisfaction, these corrupt officials are like weeds, which are cut down every year, only to grow again when the spring breeze blows.

Zhu Youtang may have seen too much, and he also became numb without realizing it. He was obviously not as jealous as before. Anyway, he was already tired of this matter.

But for these corrupt officials, you don't need to worry too much, you just need to hand it over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Now Wan Yi, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, is Wan'an's son. Although Wan'an did follow the crowd back then, he was indeed loyal to the royal family, and now he is fighting corruption for himself like Wang Yue.

In comparison, the situation overseas is obviously more comfortable.

The forces of the Tokai Governor's Palace have successfully penetrated Honshu Island. Although the Emperor of Japan is still there and there are two shoguns, the real uncrowned king already belongs to Xu Shiying, who commands the Tokai Governor's Palace.

"I will now add a military base in Hokkaido to take over the military control of Hokkaido and also provide supplies for the North American fleet. Although the Kamchatka Peninsula is bitterly cold, it is the only way to reach North America, so please build a new city!"

After Zhu Youtang read Xu Shiying's secret report, he also wrote and gave instructions to express his support for his idea.

Although the cost of adding an additional city and garrison overseas is actually not small.

It's just that North America has massive gold and silver mines, as well as the upcoming fur trade. It is actually a very wise idea to set up a base to provide security and supplies for the routes.

In fact, many things now are not done at his request, but because his subordinates continue to offer suggestions, and this is how the good situation is gradually achieved.

But the good news is not limited to this, and there is also good news from the Indian Ocean.

If we say who was the most daring person in the history of the Ming Dynasty, if Wang Zhi dared to claim to be second, I am afraid no one would dare to claim to be number one.

Wang Zhi made his fortune in the Chenghua Dynasty and became the feared director of the West Factory. He even encouraged Wang Yue to kill Weininghai together and shocked the world. After he was resurrected, he and Wang Yue staged the massacre of hundreds of officials in Yangzhou in one day.

Although he was attacked by the government and the public for watching Liu Daxia's family being burned to death, he was actually restless when he arranged to settle in Zhongnan Island to control the situation in Southeast Asia.

The island countries that later belonged to Indonesia had actually been collected by Wang Zhi into obedience, and over the years they had become members of the docile mission.

Although the situation in Nanyang is attributed to the Luzon Governor's Yamen, the main responsibility of the Luzon Governor's Yamen is to mine the Luzon gold mines, so the real hero actually belongs to the restless Wang Yue.

After Wang Yue was transferred to the post of Governor-General of India, his raid on the Baigu Kingdom was just his first shot in the Indian Ocean. He then crossed over to the island of Bengal to end the centuries-old struggle between the Sinhala Kingdom and the Tamil Kingdom, and brought the Sri Lankan island south of India under military control. .

"I have marched westward to the Arabian Sea. Now the Rashid dynasty is willing to have good relations with me, the Ming Dynasty, and will send beautiful women and treasures to the dynasty as tribute!"

Zhu Youtang saw that Wang Zhi had successfully captured the Rashid Dynasty, which was actually Yemen that connected Asia and Europe in later generations, and is now the exit port for Europe.

This time Wang Zhi takes this place, then if the European countries in the Mediterranean want to enter the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, they will have to look at Ming Dynasty's eyes.

Zhu Youtang's current focus is still on development. Although expanding the territory will help his historical evaluation, he still has to be at a pragmatic stage.

In fact, this is a choice between getting rich first or picking up girls first. It is enviable to pick up a lot of girls, but if you have a billionaire status, countless women will pounce on you.

Now that Europe neither has the gold and silver mines it needs, nor the pig iron it needs for domestic development, it would be better to watch the entire Europe fight against the smallpox epidemic.

A few years later, when nearly half of the total population of Europe has died, it will not be too late for the Ming Dynasty to consider whether to take over Europe. It can even be said that the time is just right.

The moonlight is like water, quietly falling on every corner of the Qianqing Palace courtyard.

Zhu Youtang continued to read the intelligence from overseas. Although Wang Shouren might not become a saint, he had already discovered Australia, and good news had also come back from this new continent.

"I led the fleet to Australia. However, there is a lot of drought here, and crocodiles and poisonous frogs can be seen everywhere. The local people make a living by fishing and do not know the grain. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and have searched for iron ore. This stone is of excellent quality. Please make your decision, Your Majesty!" "

Australia can be said to be the most regrettable territory of China. It is obviously very close to China, but ocean currents and wind directions caused the Ming and Song Dynasties to miss it, and the subsequent dynasties caused the fleet technology to regress.

However, this continent also has problems. Drought is a killer of agriculture. However, it is also a paradise for creatures such as crocodiles and poisonous frogs. It is difficult for humans to carve out a world without guns.

Zhu Youtang knew that 70% of the territory during this period was unclaimed land. Now he only needed to bring Australia under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. Whether immigration could be left to future generations, what he faced now was the mining of iron ore.

Following the Australian intelligence, there is also a piece of crystal iron ore, which is shining with a different light under the lamp.

Zhu Youtang naturally knows that Australia has the best iron ore, but the biggest cost in this era is transportation capacity. The cost of transporting a ship of iron ore from Australia back to Tianjin is not low.

Just when he was hesitating, Liu Jin walked in cautiously and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the noble Li Xien wants to see you."

Zhu Youtang's eyes flashed with light, and he immediately waved his hand to signal Liu Jin to lead the people in.

In just a moment, Li Xien walked in gracefully.

Although she is no longer as youthful and lively as she used to be, she has a delicate face, skin as white as snow, and a faint smile in her eyes that seem to be able to speak.

At this moment, she is wearing traditional Korean clothes, with a graceful yet dignified figure, and her long hair is smooth and lustrous. She looks like a well-informed Korean beauty.

People are inevitably curious, especially she wanted to get into this man's life, so when she learned that she could come to this moment, she decided to come to Dongnuan Pavilion.

At this time, Zhu Youtang was no longer as dignified as he was during the day. Since he was browsing information and it was impossible for important ministers to come here to ask for an audience, he had an emperor-like laziness all over his body.

When Li Xien saw Zhu Youtang like this, his beautiful eyes became brighter, but he still bowed politely.

"Why do you want to come to me?" Zhu Youtang was in a good mood tonight, and he looked up and down at the beauty in front of him.

"Your Majesty, you are still dealing with government affairs at night. You must be tired. Let the foreign ministers rub your shoulders." Li Xi'en did not answer directly, but walked to Zhu Youtang's side and whispered softly.

Zhu Youtang nodded and gently closed his eyes.

Li Xien's fingers pressed gently on his shoulders with moderate force, making him feel comfortable: "Your Majesty, I heard from my father-in-law that you will continue to work here every night, so you should pay more attention to your health!"

"I'm still young now, so this strength is nothing! In fact, I fish every day to relax my mind and body. If you are interested, you can go to Tingchao Pavilion to accompany me tomorrow evening, and I can also teach you how to fish!" Zhu Youtang will hand in Putting it on Li Xien's hand, he also made an invitation.

"The foreign minister heard about your majesty's hobbies in Seoul. Tomorrow the foreign minister will go to Tingchao Pavilion to consult with your majesty!" Li Xi'en was full of joy, but he noticed the iron ore on the table: "Your majesty, why is there a piece of iron ore here? Iron ore?"

"This is Australian iron ore, but it's too far away from the capital! If we take a trip, we can catch up with North America. The cost of such a voyage is really too high!" Zhu Youtang looked at the faintly shining The crystal-clear iron ore looks bitter and authentic.

The ocean currents and wind directions in the Arafura Sea are east-west. This sea area alone requires a lot of manpower, so it is destined to be difficult to transport large tonnage.

In fact, the solution is to invent a steamship, but the steamship project has just been established, and it will probably take at least a few years to build a steamship.

That's why, although Australia has a large amount of high-quality iron ore, it is actually not a wise move to mine it with the current production and transportation capabilities.

"When the foreign minister came from Tianjin, he also saw the steam train. That thing is really magical! It just costs so much steel. Is it really cost-effective?" Li Xi'en hesitated and expressed his doubts.

Zhu Youtang knew that this woman's vision was limited to the Korean Peninsula after all, so he smiled slightly and said: "Transportation efficiency is the future of the country! If in the future, you can sit in a car from Beijing to Seoul and reach it in just a few days, how wonderful would it be?" "

"Your Majesty has great ambitions, and the foreign minister has learned from it!" Li Xi'en nodded with understanding, and then said seriously: "Regarding the matter of pig iron, the foreign minister has a suggestion!"

"Let's talk inside!" Zhu Youtang saw that the information was almost browsed and took her hand.

Li Xien's pretty face was slightly red, and she nodded inaudibly: "Yes!"

What was supposed to come finally came, and Li Xien knew what it meant to stay in the palace tonight.

When she followed Zhu Youtang to the dragon bed, her heart couldn't help but beat loudly, and she was so embarrassed that she could only look down at her toes.

Liu Jin undressed Zhu Youtang and asked the palace maid to help Li Xien, then blew out one of the candlesticks and sent away the irrelevant personnel.

The female official in charge of recording knew that this was a special event and began to work hard to write it down to pass it on to future generations.

Li Xien lay silently on the dragon bed. At this moment, his mind was blank and his face was full of shyness. But when she faced this man, her eyes were filled with emotion and joy.

Zhu Youtang looked at the woman in front of him who he almost missed. He was quite excited and leaned over to kiss her. Everything in this world is probably more cherished when it is lost and recovered, right?

When he was actually exploring, his whole body suddenly froze, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Your Majesty, this is my first time, please have mercy on me!" Li Xien's pretty face turned red and she whispered softly, appearing inaudible.

Zhu Youtang reached out and caressed Li Xien's face, and immediately decided to give this woman greater happiness, which could be regarded as compensation for missing so many years.

Li Xien stayed in the palace for three full days, and her appearance was like a pebble falling into the Taiye Pool, causing strong dissatisfaction in the peaceful harem.

When she saw that Zhu Youtang didn't turn over the cards for three whole nights, the queen cursed Li Xien as a vixen, and together with Fan Jinling and other concubines, they didn't like this woman from North Korea.

In particular, it was learned that Zhu Youtang also led Li Xien to Tingchao Pavilion, and there was also news that Zhu Youtang had caught a hundred-year-old eel with extraordinary vigor, which made these women gnash their teeth with hatred.

Of course, they scolded each other in their hearts, but they didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

Fortunately, Li Xien did not live in the palace permanently, but quietly left the capital three days later and returned to Seoul, North Korea, under the escort of the Ming Dynasty cavalry.

When the time came to March, North Korea soon made major changes.

A young child of the Li family named Li Qi was established as the new king of North Korea, and Li Xien became Li Qi's adoptive mother, overseeing politics as the queen mother.

Li Shangming served as the general of the Korean Guard and was in charge of the country's military.

Of course, there is a secret clause here. North Korea mines the Mushan iron ore and pays tribute of at least one million kilograms of pig iron to the Ming Dynasty every year, and at the same time increases grain exports to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty's army withdrew from North Korea, especially Yu Yuanzan's cavalry never set foot in Seoul.

North Korea finally succeeded in avoiding a catastrophe. Under the exaggeration of caring people, Li Shangming became a great hero in the eyes of North Korean people. (End of chapter)