Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 254: Open up the vast sea borders of the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Gang was silent.

This was the first time he had seen this map.

Whether the place Zhu Yunhuan referred to really exists is probably a matter of debate.

At least, as far as Zhu Gang knew, he had never heard of that continent.

Going out on the vast ocean by boat is an extremely illusory thing.

Apart from those who have gone mad and obsessed with seeking immortality, or the poor who have nowhere else to go and cannot survive, who would be willing to go to that distant overseas place?
Since ancient times, it has been said that "the prosperous clan stays in its hometown, while the poor family travels far and wide."

What's more, he is the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

What's more, the place we are going to is overseas!
The sea waves are dangerous and unpredictable. This is common knowledge known to all the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Even the Eight Immortals had to display their magical powers to cross the sea safely, let alone ordinary people?
"I will give you several advanced warships and a certain number of guns and cannons."

Zhu Yunhuan didn't wait for him to make a move, but made a series of moves, saying, "Whether you can conquer that continent, develop it well, and become a true vassal king depends on your ability."

"I'm not lying to you. It's a land that is vaster and richer than the Ming Dynasty."

"If you can successfully gain a foothold there, you will have a bright future."

These are all true.

Even though Zhu Gang had previously planned to put himself to death.

But Yang Shiqi was right. For an emperor, the most boring and useless thing was to retaliate and kill people because of other people's hatred for him.

If Zhu Gang had killed people around him, Zhu Yunhuan would definitely not let Zhu Gang go.

But Zhu Gang did not.

His assassination plan and frame-up plan killed Qin Wang Zhu Chong, but what does that have to do with Zhu Yunhuan?

As an emperor, he could never make everyone in the world satisfied with him.

No one in the world can do such a thing.

As an emperor, what he needs to do is to strengthen his own protection and not give others the opportunity to assassinate or poison him.

Instead of hoping that there is no enemy in the world!
Since we have to shoulder the weight of the world, it is impossible for us to be without enemies.

But he would never give the enemy any chance to take advantage.

Therefore, whether it is to eliminate the threat posed by Zhu Gang or to lay out the future development plan of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gang must leave.

The further you go, the better.

Only in this way can Zhu Yunhuan feel at ease.

On the other hand, he can also play a small role far overseas.

This is how politicians think.

Even when dealing with one's enemies, one will try to squeeze out all the value from them.

Rather than simply settling scores.

Zhu Yunhuan was growing rapidly and gradually becoming a qualified and even outstanding politician.

"I..." Zhu Gang opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

For him, this was tantamount to exile.

And he was exiled tens of thousands of miles away.

But as Zhu Yunhuan said, does he still have the power to choose today?

Can he say no?
Zhu Gang asked, "When do you want me to leave?"

"In one or two days." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile: "Grandpa Emperor will be returning to Beijing soon. He is old, and I am afraid he will miss you."

Zhu Gang sighed softly.

This was also what he thought in his mind.

But Zhu Yunhuan obviously did not intend to give him the opportunity to meet Old Zhu again.

If Lao Zhu is reluctant, it will bring too many variables.

"Since you are ready, what else can I say?" Zhu Gang smiled bitterly and said, "It's just that my wife and children..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Yunhuan interrupted him directly: "They will go with you."

Zhu Gang's eyes narrowed: "My sons are descendants of the Zhu family just like you. They have done nothing wrong. If you do this, the emperor will not agree."

His breathing became heavier.

I originally thought that Zhu Yunhuan would not dare to kill me, let alone my family.

Unexpectedly, the other party was unwilling to let go of even one of them.

"This is not a punishment, but an opportunity given to you."

Zhu Yunxun said: "I will give you troops, guns, cannons, and countless ammunition. These troops will not be escorted to you, but you will command them."

"You are not exiled, you are a vassal king appointed by the imperial court, and that place is your fiefdom."

"According to the court's rules, the wife and children must of course follow the prince."

"Remember, I say it again, I am not exiling you thousands of miles away, but enfeoffing you."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at him and said, "When the Zhou emperor granted fiefs to the kings, there was also a rule that no king could be enfeoffed within a thousand miles of the capital."

"But at that time, apart from the thousand miles around the capital, where else was not wild?"

"I am just imitating the former Zhou emperor."

"Although the place you are going to is far away, I will grant you a fiefdom there. From now on, it will be the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"If you are buried in the sea, or die at the hands of barbarians, or die from an epidemic disease due to acclimatization, it is your bad luck, you cannot blame others."

"If you can expand the territory for the Ming Dynasty, the ten thousand miles of land there will be your reward. Your descendants will also be able to be iron-hatted kings from generation to generation, and guard the Ming Dynasty forever."

Zhu Yunhuan stood up, made another move, and said with a smile: "You lost this game. It's not because of your chess skills, but because you are no longer qualified to play against me."

"I set the rules, so you can't beat me."

"But you can choose another opponent later, and then you can win easily."

"You can't change what I've decided, so just write your letter honestly."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left without saying anything more.

Zhu Gang lowered his head and looked at the chess board.

Sure enough, the two long dragons in his plate had been eaten.

The originally good situation was immediately reversed.

There is no hope of a comeback on the chessboard anymore.

The reason Zhu Yunhuan was able to beat him was not because he was a great chess player.

It was because Zhu Yunhuan made several moves in a row and did not play chess according to the rules at all.

But as he said, as a prisoner, what qualifications does he have to negotiate rules with others?

Didn’t I never lose when I played chess with my subordinates or retainers in the past?

The only way out is to follow what Zhu Yunhuan said, go overseas, go to the wilderness, and fight for a glimmer of hope for survival.

Zhu Gang slowly closed his eyes and his heart slowly calmed down.

The wind passed silently, only the long hair flew gently.

Since there is no other choice, there is no need to hesitate.

He turned around, reached out to pick up the wine jar next to him, and drank from it.

"Overseas?"

"If you can conquer Japan, I can also conquer the wider overseas..."

……

a few days later.

The pier outside Jinling City.

Zhu Gang boarded a ship bound for America.

This is the latest warship built by the Ming Academy of Sciences and the Ming Shipbuilding Institute.

The wood used is all carefully selected.

Just by looking at the unique sails and countless ropes, you can tell that these sailboats are far more complex and advanced than the original ships.

That's right.

These are the Ming Dynasty’s latest “Dongfeng-class” battleships and “Taiping-class” transport ships.

The name was chosen by Zhu Yunhuan himself. According to the number of naval guns and the size of the ship, it was divided into four levels.

The ship's sails and rudders all use a large number of pulleys, and the hull is designed based on rigorous mathematical calculations and is very scientific.

Although they are also sailing ships, the Dongfeng-class warships and Taiping-class transport ships use a three-mast design and their ship types have been specially optimized, making them almost twice as fast as the original Ming treasure ships.

More importantly, due to the addition of the "bowsprit" at the bow and the "mizzenmast" at the stern, the upper sail becomes an "air rudder" which, combined with the water rudder below, makes its turning very flexible.

Looking from afar, the towering sails and countless intricate ropes can give people a very intuitive sense of the advancement and complexity of the Dongfeng class and Taiping class.

After Zhu Gang boarded the ship, like a curious baby, he asked the sailors on the ship about the functions of the ropes.

The more I asked, the more shocked I felt.

This type of warship is not only huge, but more importantly, it is too complex.

There are many functions that Zhu Gang had never thought of.

After Zhu Yunhuan returned from his expedition to Japan, he sent someone to ask for the blueprints of his treasure ship.

Apart from the rapid-fire cannon that amazed Zhu Gang, everything else was just mediocre.

Japan was defeated in the first battle, mostly due to its weak national strength.

However, compared with the warships that originally went to war with Japan, the current Dongfeng-class battleships and Taiping-class transport ships have completely changed in structure except for the size of the hull.

Compared with the original drawings, it is more than ten times more complicated.

The ability to navigate the ocean has also been greatly enhanced.

Zhu Yunhuan was able to hand over such advanced ships to him. Perhaps, as he said, this was not exile, but a way for him to conquer a distant continent.

"Your Highness, Prince Jin, His Highness, the Crown Prince, has come with all the civil and military officials to see you off."

Zhu Gang was stunned for a moment.

He was a frustrated prince, and was "escorted" back to Kyoto.

This time when he was "exiled" to the sea, he actually came to see me off?

When I went out to take a look, I saw that, as expected, the military was in a solemn posture at the dock, and all the officials were present.

Zhu Gang saw his relative, Yingguogong Fu Youde, at a glance.

On that day, he and Fu Youde led the troops to the battle together.

He was escorted to Beijing, and so was Fu Youde.

However, the two were not imprisoned together, so Zhu Gang never had any news about him.

In Zhu Gang's view, as a prince, he could escape death, but Fu Youde would most likely be sentenced to death.

Old Zhu was worried that he couldn't find an excuse to kill these nobles.

Fu Youde mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops without authorization, and he could not bear the charge.

But I didn't expect to see Fu Youde again at the dock today.

Moreover, the other party was not wearing prison clothes, but military uniform, and was standing next to Zhu Yunhuan.

Zhu Gang narrowed his eyes slightly.

He quickly got off the boat and walked over. Before he could ask, he heard Zhu Yunhuan say with a smile: "I have appointed Duke Ying as the general. He will go with you to the fiefdom to expand the territory for the Ming Dynasty."

"you……"

Before Zhu Gang could finish his words, he was interrupted by Zhu Yunhuan.

"This is today's Da Ming Daily. Go and read it yourself."

Zhu Gang took it and looked at it, only to see that it was written "The Prince of Jin requests to withdraw his fiefdom, and the court conferred him the title of Prince of Southern", and there was another line of words below "The Prince of Southern leads his army overseas, and General Fu Youde accompanies him".

The content of the article was that Zhu Gang requested the court to revoke his title of King of Jin and take back his fiefdom on the grounds that the grassland had been pacified and there was no need to set up a border defense anymore.

After consulting with the court officials, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince agreed to his request and conferred him the title of King of the South, with his fiefdom thirty thousand miles overseas.

The article also describes how vast the fiefdom was, its area even larger than the entire Ming Dynasty today.

The land is fertile and the products are abundant.

The only downside is that the people there have not yet been taught by sages and have not enjoyed the grace of the Ming Emperor. They need the King of the South to conquer and educate them.

Let them, let that distant and vast land, be bathed in the glory of the Ming Dynasty from now on.

If the King of the South can accomplish this great feat, it will surely be recorded in history forever.

General Fu Youde was loyal to the court. Despite his old age, he asked for permission to accompany the emperor and vowed to make contributions to the country.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't bear it and refused again and again, but Duke Ying had made up his mind, so in the end, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had to reluctantly agree.

The sincere desire of Prince Nan and Duke Ying to serve their country is truly admirable.

Your Majesty has such a good man, and the Ming Dynasty has such a loyal minister, so there is no need to worry about not being able to expand the territory by another 100,000 miles!

……

The article praised him and Fu Youde so highly that Zhu Gang was stunned.

It was originally thought that Zhu Yunhuan would definitely accuse himself of a crime for this voyage and have to explain himself to the court and the public.

What he had done was already known to all officials in the capital.

Even most of the people in Jinling City had heard the rumors.

However, I didn't expect that Zhu Yunhuan didn't use that charge.

On the contrary, from beginning to end, there were only praises and commendations.

Going overseas also changed from being a necessity to being a voluntary act, and became the responsibility of the royal family members.

I have to say, this trick is very clever!

It neither damaged the prestige of the Ming royal family nor dealt with him, a vassal king, in a clever way.

With the influence of the Da Ming Daily, once the news was announced, everyone in the world knew about it and he had no way out.

After reading it, Zhu Gang was stunned for a long while and could only bow.

"Thank you!"

Once you go overseas, your life or death is uncertain.

But at least his posthumous reputation was preserved.

Even if he died at sea, he was still a hero who served the country and paved the way for the Ming Dynasty.

"No need!"

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "I did this to preserve the reputation of the Ming imperial family and to give an explanation to Grandpa Huang."

"The same is true for having all the civil and military officials come here to see you off today."

"Although the article in this newspaper is full of flattery, it is also my sincere opinion."

"Whether you believe it or not, I sincerely hope that you can conquer that continent and become the true King of the South."

"Before this, I have sent Zheng He to sea to investigate the situation there."

"It's a pity that he hasn't come back yet."

"I will continue to send ships after you get there."

"Take care on your journey!"

After Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, he ordered someone to bring wine glasses and wine, and together with the civil and military officials, he toasted Zhu Gang and Fu Youde to send them off.

The salute was fired.

The trumpet blew.

Zhu Yunhuan inspected the accompanying soldiers.

……

The ceremony is over.

Zhu Gang and Fu Youde boarded the warship.

Wow!
The capstan turns.

The huge and heavy anchor slowly rose from the bottom of the water.

The chains tied to the dock were loosened one by one, and the warship set sail!

The sun is shining and the Ming dragon flag is fluttering in the wind.

The Ming Dynasty's vast maritime territory opens from today.

……