I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 501: Controversy over Maps

Zhu Houxuan changed the foreign names of many places into Chinese names, for example:

Turpan was renamed Gaochang;
Korla was changed to canal plow;
Aksu was changed to Gumo;
Kashgar was changed to Shule;

Yecheng was changed to Xiye;

Huocheng/Yining was changed to Gongyue;

Jimusar was changed to Tingzhou;

Urumqi was renamed Luntai;

Taxkorgan was changed to Congling;
Tokmak was changed to Suiye City;
I won’t list them all here.

Zhu Houxuan believed that assimilation and prevention of separatism required attention to every detail and must start from the most basic.

In fact, in the ethnic policy that Zhu Houxuan was designing, there would be no distinction between majority or minority ethnic groups, and he would not give privileges and preferential treatment to those non-naturalized ethnic groups for the sake of unity.

Because from the various examples he had seen before he traveled through time.

Giving privileges and preferential treatment to ethnic minorities will increase the difficulty of assimilation. In order to maintain their privileges and preferential treatment, they are not willing to move closer to the mainstream ethnic group.

Moreover, when their numbers are small, they demand privileges; when their numbers are large, they demand political power.
So Zhu Houxuan decided not to pamper them from the beginning.
"This newly conquered land in the Western Regions is so huge. It seems to occupy almost half of the Ming Dynasty's territory. It's really unbelievable," said a student in shock.

"Yes, Your Majesty has been fighting there for three years, wasting countless gold and silver, and receiving frequent reports of victory. It is reasonable for him to conquer such a large area." Ai Zhiren said.

"Looking at these names, I suddenly have the urge to visit these places. I want to see the frontiers described in the poems of Tang Dynasty poets," said a student emotionally.

After hearing this, Ai Zhiren was moved and said, "Brother Xu, this may be possible. I read in the newspaper a few days ago that more than a hundred post stations in the Yanran Protectorate have been built, and they are preparing to start building post stations in the Western Regions. Then we may be able to visit these places through these post stations."

"Now that Brother Ai mentioned that, I also remembered this matter. This approach is indeed feasible!" said the sentimental student named Xu in surprise.

Then he seemed to remember something and turned to look for it on the map again. After a while, he shouted in surprise: "Yanran Mountain is here, Hanhai is here, Langjuxu Mountain is here! We can also go there for a tour."

"That's great! We'll ask them to go with us when the time comes!" Another student was also very interested in this suggestion.

He and the student named Xu both came from wealthy families.
"Why are there so many islands in the south of the Ming Dynasty?" asked a student, pointing to the bottom of the map.

"Also, why is this place called Malacca City highlighted? Is there anything special about it?" the student continued.

"You usually only like to watch dramas and not read newspapers. Malacca was captured by the imperial navy after defeating some foreign country called Portugal..." Ai Zhiren said with a smile. "This foreign country called Portugal was extremely hateful. It actually took the initiative to attack our Ming merchant ships. As a result, our Ming navy defeated it and captured many places from it... This matter was also mentioned in the imperial court report..." Ai Zhiren continued.

"What a ridiculous foreign country!" said a student, shaking his head with disdain.

The people around nodded their heads
"Why do you think the court conquered so many islands in the south?" a student asked puzzledly.

"Let's conquer it and immigrate there. I heard that the resources there are abundant. Although the weather is a bit hot, we can harvest three times a year!" Ai Zhiren interrupted again.

"I also know something about this matter," said the student named Xu who also came over.

"Now the Royal Group is frantically recruiting immigrants to open up wasteland in the south, resulting in a decrease in the number of tenants. The remaining tenants have become wild and want to make demands for every field they rent. The rent used to be at least 50%, but this year my family's rent has been reduced to 40% before we can barely rent out the land and not abandon it. I heard that in some places the rent has been reduced to 35%. This is the first time this has happened since the beginning of the world!" said the student surnamed Xu indignantly.

"The world has changed. In the past, my family always told the tenants, 'If you don't rent, there are plenty of people who will.' We had no trouble renting out the land. But now it's the other way around. If the rent is too high, it's really hard to rent out the land. Ordinary people have more choices now. If they can't make ends meet, they just grit their teeth and emigrate. No matter where they go, they can get hundreds of acres of land and all kinds of farm tools. As long as they work hard for a few years, they will have no worries about food and clothing. Who would want to be a tenant?" said a student, shaking his head.

Many people were silent after hearing this, as their families had also encountered this situation to varying degrees.
"The imperial court doesn't care about it." A student said quietly, "How can the people of the Ming Dynasty flee overseas so easily?"

"Yes, this is outrageous. The court should have intervened long ago!" another student said indignantly.

Others also echoed
"In fact, there are ministers who have submitted memorials about this matter, requesting His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing to close the country to the outside world and prevent the people from leaving Ming and going overseas," Ai Zhiren suddenly said.

"What then? What then?" Many people are very interested in this matter.
"Then I was scolded by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing!" Ai Zhiren said, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing said that immigration is a basic national policy and can never be changed. Anyone who dares to discuss immigration should resign!"

Many people fell silent after hearing what Ai Zhiren said.
"Alright! Alright! Alright!" Ai Zhiren said quickly to smooth things over. "Why are we talking about this? This map is really interesting. It's such a complete map, and it also has accurate topography and city names (only up to the prefectural level) marked on it. It's the only one I've ever seen in my life."

"The Ming Dynasty has changed so much in the past few years! I almost don't recognize it anymore. It makes me feel a little strange," sighed a student.

"The biggest change is in the territory. Now the territory of our Ming Dynasty is probably the largest in history!" Ai Zhiren said, changing the subject.

"It is indeed the best in history. Look, His Majesty's edict says, 'These territories have never been connected to China. They will all be subjects of the Ming Dynasty.' It is really exciting." said the student named Xu.

Ai Zhiren looked at the map of the Ming territory painted light red on the map, and suddenly thought of something, and said: "We haven't added the Far East Continent yet. I heard that the Royal Group has established a new colony in the Far East Continent thousands of miles away."

Many people were very interested in the Far East Continent, mainly because of the abundant gold and silver there, so they began to discuss it.

The student surnamed Xu looked at the map and found the location of Nanjing City. He sighed, "Today I know that the world outside is so vast. We are still doing nothing in the small city of Nanjing. How sad!"

(End of this chapter)