All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 185: The Ming Empire

Back to the original topic, Li Shanchang.

"Li Shanchang's biggest problem is not his power grabbing, nor his relationship with Hu Weiyong."

"The biggest problem is his age and that he is in such good physical condition."

"He is seventy years old, but he is still strong and alive and well. How can Your Majesty tolerate him?"

"Zihou said this." Zhu Biao was at a loss for words. "How can it be because of a person's longevity?"

Zhu Di, who was standing next to him, felt that what Chen Ran said made sense.

It was just that the prince was in the process of establishing his character, and he couldn't interrupt.

"How did the Sima family seize power?" Chen Ran sneered. "No one really thinks that it was because of Sima Yi's ability. It was purely because he was able to survive."

"When you reach a certain position, if you live long enough, you can weave a large enough network of interests and win over enough people to work for you. Correspondingly, if your opponent dies early, you will lose the incense and network of interests."

"Sima Yi outlasted Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and even Cao Rui. All the important opponents died, so he naturally became the biggest one."

Chen Ran opened up and said, "His real ability is not even comparable to Cao Rui's. He relied on living long enough to make connections and compromises with the aristocratic families, and then used the Luoshui Oath to kill his biggest rival and eliminate future troubles. He was able to transform himself from an employee into a boss."

"Your Majesty is also afraid that the Ming Dynasty will also have a Sima Yi, so he will eliminate him first no matter what."

Historically, when Li Shanchang's property was raided, he was in his seventies or nearly eighty years old, and it is said that he was still in good spirits.

With Sima Yi's example in mind, how could Zhu Yuanzhang not be afraid?

Zhu Biao has a generous personality, so he can't say much about this topic.

Zhu Di didn't have so many concerns. He took a bite of the barbecue and nodded in approval, "That's right. Li Shanchang himself has no foresight. Why did he live so long at such an old age?"

The Sima family has always been criticized by later generations, and the root cause is that Sima Yi did not keep his word and broke the Luo River Oath.

From then on, no emperor would trust capable old ministers anymore, as older ministers became more suspicious.

Zhu Biao glared at Lao Si and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I want to ask you, what exactly is going on in Beiping?"

As soon as this was mentioned, Zhu Di began to complain on the spot.

It was simply because he wanted to avoid suspicion, so he didn't pay much attention to local affairs and was only thinking about going to the grassland to fight the remnant Yuan Dynasty.

I never thought those civil servants would be so bold. They really dug their own grave.

Zhu Biao loved his brothers very much. After comforting them for a few words, he looked at Chen Ran and asked, "How do you think about this matter? How do you plead with your father?"

Chen Ran, who was sprinkling spices on the barbecue, immediately smiled and said, "Since His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan has come here, there is no need to beg for mercy. Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince only needs to take the Prince of Yan to find the Queen Mother, and let the Queen Mother come out to cook a meal. After your family has finished the meal, this matter will naturally be over."

Old Zhu is a protective person. Even if his son does nothing wrong, he will find ways to cover up for him and put the blame on others.

With the Crown Prince and Empress Ma stepping in, there will be no problem.

At most you'll get scolded a few times.

Zhu Biao and Zhu Di both laughed, they thought so too.

"This meat is delicious." Zhu Di ate a bite of meat and drank a sip of wine, looking at the sizzling meat on the grill and asking, "Why is it so delicious?"

"If you have ever eaten boiled meat, you should know that meat is not as delicious as you think."

Chen Ran picked up the tray beside him and handed it over. "It mainly depends on the side dishes. If the side dishes are good enough and plentiful enough, it will naturally be delicious."

"Salt, sauce, vinegar, I know these." Zhu Di took the tray and looked at it carefully. "What are the rest?"

"Nutmeg, cloves, pandan leaves, pepper," Chen Ran listed a string of spices, and then explained, "I bought these from the Arab merchant ship I met on my way back from Japan."

He pointed at the tray and asked with a smile, "Do you know how much these spices are worth?"

Zhu Di immediately shook his head and said, "How could I know this?"

"The spices here weigh about a pound, and are worth an equal weight of silver."

"So expensive?" Zhu Di was immediately surprised.

A tray of spices is worth sixteen taels of silver. It's too expensive.

Although sixteen taels was nothing to them, it was just a side dish for a barbecue.

"I have connections overseas. The risk is a bit high, but if I can find the spices..."

Zhu Biao, who was standing by, watched Chen Ran fooling his fourth brother.

He was very familiar with this scene. This was also what he was told when they persuaded him to open up a route to Japan.

"Is the King of Yan interested in doing this business together?" Chen Ran said with a smile, "When the time comes, you can bring back a few ships of spices, which will be a few ships of silver. The King of Yan will have a source of funds to prepare his army and go to Mobei."

Zhu Di was greatly moved by these words.

But I still have to be vigilant.

Seeing his fourth brother looking at him, Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and said, "When Zihou came back from Japan, he brought back goods worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. Although he speaks incoherently, he is reliable in his work."

Zhu Di was relieved immediately, but then he frowned, "But I don't have the money. I'm afraid the cost of this voyage will be high."

"Not as much as you might think." Chen Ran explained with a smile, "A few tens of thousands of taels of silver will be enough."

He has been trying his best to draw Ming Dynasty's attention to the ocean, with only one purpose, which is to start the Age of Discovery ahead of time.

The Ming Dynasty was not a slave state that closed its doors to the outside world. At least at this time it still supported maritime trade.

Only after beasts like Liu Daxia came to power would they block the sea access for both the civilians and the court, and only allow the civil service groups to send ships out to sea to make money.

When the Age of Exploration began, the most suitable country in the world for the Age of Exploration was the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was strong enough and capable of supporting large-scale ocean exploration activities.

Technology is advanced enough to build large sea vessels capable of long voyages.

If you are civilized enough, you can convince others with reason. If words don't work, you also know how to use fists and feet to convince others physically.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty was not far from the seaport, which was very suitable for entering the Age of Discovery.

In every aspect, the Ming Dynasty was blessed with unique advantages and should have fully seized all the benefits of the Age of Discovery.

But, the Ming Dynasty had Zhu Qizhen, as well as civil servants such as the Three Yangs, Liu Daxia and others!
The great opportunity to dominate the world was ruined by the big turbans.

In the end, these big turbans even destroyed the entire Ming Dynasty, causing China to fall into the slavery of pigtails.

Since Chen Ran has come to this era, it is impossible for him to watch the Ming Dynasty miss the opportunity to become the Ming Empire.

He knew very well that the only way to convince people like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to turn their attention to the ocean was to lure them with benefits.

Only when they see the tangible benefits can they invest heavily in the ocean.

As for Zhu Di, historically he supported Zheng He's voyages to the West. What Chen Ran had to do was to make him support this matter earlier.

"I don't have tens of thousands of taels." Zhu Di stated very straightforwardly that he had no money. "The annual salary to support the palace is already stretched to the limit, how can I have money to go out to sea?"

"It doesn't matter if the King of Yan has no money, you can go and borrow some."

Chen Ran continued to persuade him, "The prince has money, just ask him to borrow it. You two are brothers, and His Royal Highness the Prince will definitely not refuse a mere few tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Zhu Biao, who was standing aside, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Is it really okay to say such things to my face?
Since you have said so much, how can I not lend it to you?

"The money in the national treasury must not be touched." Zhu Biao pondered for a moment, "Here in the East Palace, I can squeeze out 20,000 taels."

"Prince." Chen Ran said simply, "There is no need to go through so much trouble. You only need to arrange for the navy to go to Japan and allow the sale of some weapons, armor and other military supplies to the local vassal states of Japan."

"This is a matter of national importance." Zhu Biao shook his head repeatedly, "Your Majesty must agree before this can be done."

"In that case, after eating the barbecue, you can go find the Queen."

Chen Ran was not in a hurry. The European Age of Navigation would not officially begin for another several dozen or even hundreds of years, so the Ming Dynasty had plenty of time to prepare.

That night, Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao and Zhu Di's families sat together for dinner.

Just as Chen Ran said, Empress Ma came forward to mediate, and Zhu Yuanzhang was a protective person to begin with.

Zhu Di's affairs were naturally exposed after a few bland reprimands.

Next, the two brothers talked about going out to sea.

"Are spices so expensive?" Queen Ma asked in surprise. "Are they as expensive as silver?"

"I sent someone to check the market." Zhu Biao responded, "The price of spices in the city is even more expensive than what Zihou said."

"But how does he know where the spices are?" Queen Ma was still puzzled. "The sea is so vast, how can we find them?"

"Mother." Zhu Di said, "I think he must have got the news from the merchants in Tianfang."

"That makes sense."

Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Chongba, what do you think?"

"How should I watch? I'll sit and watch." Zhu Yuanzhang ate with his eyes wide open. "He opened his mouth and wanted to send out the navy. Does he think he is the Grand Commander of the Five Military Command? If you have the ability, go and do it yourself. I won't send troops anyway. By the way, if you really do get it done, remember to pay taxes when you ship things back from overseas."

After dinner, Zhu Yuanzhang left quickly.

Empress Ma said with a smile, "My sons have grown up and want to pursue careers. As a mother, I will support them."

"It doesn't matter if your father doesn't want to mobilize troops. We can just spend money to do the work ourselves."

"I have some silver here, just take as much as you need."

"Mother." Zhu Biao said anxiously, "How can I touch your money?"

"You are all my sons." Empress Ma smiled again, "It is natural for a mother to spend money on her sons."

"Biao'er, bring Zihou here tomorrow and I'll ask him about this matter."

The next day, Chen Ran, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di came to Empress Ma's bedroom together.

After greeting and sitting down, Chen Ran's first words were, "Your Majesty is not unwilling to send troops, but he feels that since we are the ones taking the initiative to fight, he is happy to sit back and watch the fun."

"If we succeed, no one will dare to be short of the share that belongs to His Majesty."

"If it doesn't work out, then His Majesty will naturally come out to clean up the mess. But at that time, there will be a lot of scolding and criticism, and all the business routes will fall into His Majesty's hands."

"You, child, don't say such things in the palace anymore." Empress Ma sighed, "There are too many people in the palace who gossip."

After giving instructions, Queen Ma asked again, "What are you going to do about this matter?"

"Build ships, build large ships. Then find some retired military supplies and send them to Japan, and provoke a war between the Japanese vassal states and the imperial court, so as to profit from it."

"Once you earn money, you can continue to invest in expanding your fleet. On the one hand, you can continue to plunder Japan, and on the other hand, you can go south to look for spices."

Empress Ma nodded in approval. "How much silver do you need?"

"One hundred thousand taels is enough for starting capital."

(End of this chapter)