The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Huayu is located in the westernmost part of the Penghu Islands, 30 kilometers southwest of Penghu Island, with an area of ​​1.4729 square kilometers and an average altitude of about 40 meters.

Except for Japanese pirates, there are no aborigines on Huayu at this time.

The northwest end of Huayu Island is mountainous, and the southeast is a stretch of rolling green hills. It is the westernmost island of the Penghu Islands.

The Penghu Islands are located between the main island of Taiwan and Fujian Province, east of the center of the Taiwan Strait.

However, Taiwan at this time did not have this name. It was called Dongfan or Xiaoliuqiu, and the Ryukyu Islands were called Daliuqiu by the Ming Dynasty.

The Penghu Islands are named because the sea outside the harbor is surging and the water inside the harbor is as calm as a lake. It consists of 64 islands in the southeastern part of the Taiwan Strait. The main islands are Penghu Main Island, Yuweng Island and Baisha Island, with an area of ​​approximately 96.6 square kilometers. , accounting for 76.1% of the total area.

There are 8 islands with an area of ​​more than 1 square kilometer, including Hujing, Jibei, and Wangan. The remaining 53 islands have an area of ​​less than 1 square kilometer, and 44 of them are uninhabited.

The development history of Penghu can be traced back to before the Qin and Han Dynasties. It was officially included in the Chinese territory in the Song Dynasty and belonged to Quanzhou Prefecture of Fujian Province. Its development time was more than 380 years earlier than the main island of Taiwan.

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, with the increasing number of immigrants, the Inspection Department was set up. However, the Ming Dynasty had always neglected to manage the area. Especially during the Japanese Rebellion in the early Ming Dynasty, in order to implement the maritime ban, the Penghu population was moved back to Fujian and the Penghu Inspection Department was abolished. .

It was not until the 42nd year of Jiajing that the Penghu Inspection Department was reestablished in order to deal with harassment by Japanese pirates, but it did not really play a role in defending against Japanese pirates.

In fact, many of the isolated overseas islands are no longer inhabited by residents, and most of the active people on the islands are Japanese pirates and maritime traders.

Even though people had been relocated to live there, the imperial court banned the sea. The island residents could not get supplies from the mainland and had to choose to leave and return to the Ming Dynasty.

Knowing the news that the Japanese pirates were hiding in Huayu Island in the Penghu Islands, Yu Dayou could not delay for a moment. He immediately ordered the Pingyang County Government to take the people into custody first, and he hurried back to the dock to board the ship, and then the fleet set sail for Huayu Island.

On the boat, Yu Dayou summoned his generals and ordered: "This time the army is divided into four groups to surround the Penghu Islands. All the islands and reefs in Penghu must be searched to ensure that no Japanese pirates are spared."

"yes."

All the generals agreed.

"Commander, do you want to go and have a look at Dongfan Island? Last time Hao Jing came back with the news that the Folangji people discovered the island when they went to trade with Japan and called it Formosa.

Dongfan Island is too close to Fujian and can be reached at dawn or dusk. As far as we know, there is no royal authority on the island and there are ignorant villagers.

If Dongfan Island is occupied by the Fo Langji people, it seems to be detrimental to our Ming Dynasty. "

General Youbu said.

"Dongfan, actually the Fujian side probably knows the situation, but it's just that it's blocked by the sea and it's inconvenient to send people to supervise it.

Even for Penghu, Quanzhou Prefecture is not willing to spend energy to manage it, let alone the huge Dongfan Island. "

Yu Dayou hesitated.

His worries were not unfounded. In fact, the Ming Dynasty knew to some extent the misunderstanding at the founding of the country. There was indeed a so-called King of Ryukyu in Ryukyu, and he had always maintained a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty. From time to time, envoys would go to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage.

Xiaoliuqiu, on the other hand, is basically a deserted island. In the early years, Fujian people moved to the island.

But after the sea ban, most people have withdrawn.

However, this also allowed Daming to know the situation of Dongfan Island. There are some villages on the island where indigenous people live.

However, the real reason that prevented the Ming Dynasty troops from landing on the island was that Xiaoliuqiu was named among the fifteen countries that Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang clearly stated in the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions", which meant that this place was not included in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang took military and politics as his "main occupation" throughout his life, he seemed to be particularly cautious in using troops.

The same goes for governing a country. When the country is not peaceful, troops are used to deal with the chaos.

When the world is at peace, all we need to do is repair the armor and soldiers. It's just training soldiers to prepare for national defense.

Why do you say that?

Everyone should know: the use of military force can eliminate disasters, but it can also cause disasters. If you rely on wealth to show off your strength, take great pleasure in success, and cause trouble, you will create grudges and provocations. This is not exactly what invites disasters!

Just like a doctor prescribing dizzy medicine indiscriminately and forcing healthy people to take it, although it will not cause physical disability or death, it can seriously damage the vitality!

Therefore, those who are in charge of the country should always talk about military affairs, but they must not resort to militarism!"

This is the "sincere teaching" of the experienced emperor who has paid attention to "Hongwu" and "Martial Arts" throughout his life. This is Zhu Yuanzhang's epiphany gained from historical experience and lessons.

He made this announcement to various ministers at the Fengtian Gate of the Ming Palace in Nanjing: "If the barbarian countries overseas have harmed China, they must not deny it; if they do not harm China, they must not raise armies on their own.

The ancients said that a vast land is not a plan for long-term stability, and the labor of the people is the source of chaos.

For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty recklessly raised an army to conquer Ryukyu, killed the barbarians, burned their palaces, and captured thousands of men and women. The land he obtained was not enough to provide food, and the people he obtained was not enough to command. All historical records will be ridiculed by future generations.

I have used the small barbarian countries to block the mountains and seas, and isolated them in a corner. They are not Chinese patients, and I will never attack them. The only exception is the Hurong in the northwest (referring to Mobei Mongolia). The world is troubled by China, so we must keep our ears open. You should remember what I said and know what I mean. "

This is actually the main reason why Zhu Yuanzhang decided on these fifteen countries that would not be conquered. That is because the land is vast and the people are sparse and it is difficult to manage, and the gains and efforts are not equal.

In the late years of Hongwu, Emperor Zhu was afraid that his descendants would be arrogant, frivolous, and use military force at will, thus causing disasters. He specially wrote his national policy of cautious use of foreign forces into the "Huang Ming Zu Xun".

"The four directions of the barbarians are all separated by mountains and seas. They are secluded in a corner; their land is not enough to provide, and their people are not enough to command. If they do not consider themselves and come to disturb our border, it will be a bad omen.

Since they are not a threat to China, it is also a bad omen if we raise troops and attack them lightly. I am afraid that future generations will rely on China's wealth and strength, covet temporary military exploits, raise troops for no reason, and cause casualties. Remember not to do so.

But the Hu Rong and the northwest border are close to each other, and there have been wars for generations. We must select generals and train troops and be careful from time to time."

And the subsequent history has actually proved that Zhu Yuanzhang's views on this are actually reasonable. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he violated the ancestral precepts and attacked Annan.

Of course, Zhu Di also thought it over carefully.

Annan is located at the junction of the Chinese mainland and the Indochina Peninsula. Once occupied, it can contain Champa, Siam, and Zhenla, and can control Manchuria and Sumatra, Old Port, Java, and Ningni near the peninsula.

However, because Annan is far away from the Central Plains, it finally became independent and became today's Vietnam.

It can be seen that the ancestral precepts set by Zhu Yuanzhang are not nonsense, at least it is still reasonable to prove it with facts.

For this reason, even if the Ming Navy found traces of Japanese pirates on Dongfan Island, they often just quickly attacked and immediately withdrew their troops, and would not really enter Dongfan Island.

Because they found that the Ming Dynasty was afraid of this place, many Japanese pirates used this place as their nest to operate.

Now that a general mentioned Dongfan Island and pointed out the impact of Dongfan Island's special geographical location on the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou had to consider it.

After thinking for a long time, Yu Dayou gave the order: "I will report this matter to the court first, and the court will decide.

This time the target is Penghu, and everything is first of all to eliminate the Japanese pirates entrenched in Penghu.

After the Japanese pirates are eliminated, the fleet can circle Dongfan Island to observe whether there are any traces of Japanese pirates on it, and report them at that time."

When Yu Dayou said this, most of his generals knew it well, and this was to leave a good reason for opening the door.

If the court wanted to take action against Dongfan Island, they would use their memorials to express that Dongfan was occupied by Japanese pirates and send troops to Dongfan.

Yes, there are people on Dongfan Island, but how can we know whether they are Japanese pirates or aborigines without contact.

If we can't tell them apart, then we can only suspect that they are Japanese pirates.

At the moment, Zhejiang has just been attacked by Japanese pirates. Although this group of Japanese pirates will be eliminated by them, the court will definitely take thundering measures against it. It mainly depends on whether the adults in the court have the heart to take Dongfan.

The Nanyang Navy went east and headed for the sea.

They didn't know that after they returned to the Ming Dynasty with a great victory, their trip would also be recorded in history, because this incident finally gave Wei Guangde the opportunity to take action and legitimately incorporate Dongfan Island, or Taiwan, which should be called Xiaoliuqiu, into China's territory.

Since there are people living on Dongfan Island and there is no royal law, they are just ignorant villagers, so they should naturally feel the teachings of the saints and learn etiquette and respect.

Two months later, the capital received an urgent report from Yu Dayou.

After reading the battle report, Wei Guangde immediately wrote a memorial on this topic, detailing the role of Dongfan Island as a barrier to Fujian and protecting the peace of the East China Sea.

He also emphasized that Dongfan had no political power. Although it was sparsely populated and inconvenient to manage, the court could establish guards in the north and south of Dongfan Island and relocate the military households of the guards there.

At the same time, Wei Guangde also picked out the description of the environment on Dongfan Island at that time in the battle report, towering trees could be seen everywhere, lush and green.

I wrote this, of course, not because it is a beautiful island, but because the Ming Dynasty is now facing a dilemma of lack of good wood. Of course, this lack of good wood mainly refers to the Jiangnan region. After years of development, most of the forests here have been reclaimed, and the forest resources have been exhausted. Now the court has purchased large trees from Qiongzhou and the southwest, which are thousands of miles away and extremely troublesome to transport. In Wei Guangde's words, the Ming army's landing on the island can bring the teachings of saints to the local indigenous people, allowing them to open their wisdom and wisdom, which is a great merit. If the Ministry of Industry shipyards in Nanzhili and Zhejiang are moved to two places, the material problem of sea-going ship construction can be solved for the Nanyang Navy. Before this, most of the wood for the Ming Dynasty's sea-going ships had been transported from Guangxi to the Zhejiang and Fujian shipyards. Not only was the transportation cost high, but there were also many dangers. Wei Guangde wrote this, and his purpose was naturally to build Dongfan Island into a naval base and make it the home port of the Nanyang Navy. "Shandai, you move the garrison to Dongfan and educate the local people."

In the cabinet duty room, Zhang Juzheng kept rubbing the armrest with his right hand, and couldn't find any reasonable reason to oppose his words.

Zhang Juzheng was actually very entangled. Last time he wanted to expand the territory, he attracted the news that thousands of people were slaughtered by Wang Gao's troops.

It was okay at the beginning that the news was strictly blocked, but when the court used troops against Liaodong, the news naturally could not be concealed.

For this reason, he and Wei Guangde were impeached several times by the censors of the Kedao.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, he was naturally the worst scolded.

Fortunately, Liaodong sent a victory report last month, Wang Gao was tied up and taken to the capital.

Recently, Wei Guangde's work has been to contact the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War to prepare for the ceremony of offering prisoners.

It was not necessary to destroy the rebel chieftain, but Zhang Juzheng wanted to save some of the face he had lost before through this matter.

Wei Guangde did not object to this, so it was decided.

Now Wei Guangde supports Yu Dayou to take Dongfan Island. Although as far as Zhang Juzheng knows, there are only a few aborigines on Dongfan Island and there are no kings. In other words, the Ming Dynasty can take this place without bloodshed, but Zhang Juzheng asked in private Most Fujian officials are not optimistic about this.

To put it bluntly, although Dongfan Island is large, it is all land for development. If the imperial court really goes there, it must invest energy in development. The resources are a massive investment without any benefit.

Don’t the Fujian government know the situation on Dongfan Island?

Of course not, they knew earlier, even in the Hongwu Dynasty.

But considering the mismatch between input and output, everyone is an official, and there is no need to make wedding clothes for future generations.

Knowing the situation, Zhang Juzheng naturally hesitated.

Then I thought about it, taking Dongfan Island is actually opening up territory, but there is a huge obstacle that is difficult to overcome, and that is the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions".

Wei Guangde's main memorials deliberately avoided this matter.

But once the imperial edict is issued, the courtiers are not blind, especially those in the Hanlin Academy. They will definitely oppose it in every possible way.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng said: "Once the edict is issued, the court will definitely oppose it based on the ancestral teachings. Has Shandai thought of a countermeasure?"

When Wei Guangde heard what Zhang Juzheng said, he smiled lightly and said: "This memorial is just a secret that will not be passed down. It only needs to be known to you, me and the palace.

Externally, the troops were dispatched in the name of the Ministry of War ordering the Nanyang Navy to go to the island to suppress Japanese pirates, and then water forts were set up in the north and south. This could also be said to prevent the resurgence of Japanese pirates.

As for the relocation of health stations, we can plan it gradually. Zhejiang and Fujian will select one health station to move eastward, and then move one shipyard from South Zhili and Zhejiang each. I plan to complete it in five years.

By then, if His Majesty once again announces this matter to the world, it will be a done deal, and this will naturally be the case.

At the same time, people from all over the world can also be recruited to go to Dongfan Island to educate the people. This can be done for a period of five years. After five years, they can return to the dynasty and make up for the appointment of high-level officials. "

Wei Guangde made this arrangement because he wanted the scholars to respond.

When you go to Dongfan Island to teach, your students will naturally be children of military households and aborigines on Dongfan Island.

I am afraid that many people would not be willing to recruit directly as teachers. It would be very attractive to give them five years in exchange for completing the exam in nine years, and then directly arrange for them to serve as county magistrates in the county government.

In fact, many people who were promoted to official positions could only be promoted from county schools to government schools, and it was difficult to advance further after that.

There are very few people like Hai Rui who have risen from teaching to county magistrate and then continue to rise.