The Ming Dynasty: A Modern Return, Building an Overseas Empire

Building a foundation is always the most difficult and painful process, something Zhu Gaoxu deeply understands.

Zhu Huan was deeply shocked and his mind was in turmoil upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words.

But the pen in his hand trembled as he wrote quickly, recording all of Zhu Gaoxu's arrangements.

Even after finishing writing, the shock in Zhu Huan's heart lingered for a long time.

The systems established by Zhu Gaochi were completely contrary to and different from those of the Ming Dynasty.

They're also adding an Education Department, and renaming all other ministries as "Department." What's the purpose of this?

Zhu Huan felt his mouth was dry, his heart was pounding, and his body was trembling slightly.

It wasn't entirely shock or worry, but rather excitement and exhilaration.

He wasn't afraid that Zhu Gaoxu had other ideas; he was afraid that Zhu Gaoxu didn't!

As Zhu Gaochi's confidants, they would have followed him even if it meant rebellion, let alone something as trivial as this.

What Zhu Huan cared about was Zhu Gaoxu's ambition and his uniqueness.

It was this ambition, and his incompatibility with the Ming Dynasty, that gave him hope.

It turns out that their prince had never truly let go of the past.

Now he finally understood why Zhu Gaochi insisted on leaving the Ming Dynasty, and why he chose to go by sea to establish his fiefdom far away from the Ming.

If Zhu Gaochi were to take these actions any closer to the Ming Dynasty, and continue them today, they would likely receive an imperial edict from Zhu Di within a few days.

Now he can finally understand Zhu Gaoxu's good intentions.

And only by taking an unconventional path can they perhaps truly succeed.

If everything were the same as the Ming Dynasty, the ending would be predetermined.

After the initial shock subsided, Zhu Huan felt extremely uneasy and guilty.

He was clearly Zhu Gaoxu's top strategist, offering advice and solutions to his problems, but he couldn't help Zhu Gaoxu with any of these issues; instead, it was his own prince who came up with the solutions.

Not only did they not blame or criticize him, but they also continued to value, rely on, and trust him.

Zhu Gaochi clearly brought many people with him when he was in the Ming Dynasty, including scholars.

But Zhu Gaoxu always kept him by his side, entrusting him with such important matters as overall planning.

For a moment, Zhu Huan's eyes welled up with tears, and a wave of guilt washed over him.

Suddenly, Zhu Huan knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zhu Gaoxu.

"Your Highness, I have remembered everything! I will certainly not fail Your Highness's expectations!"

Zhu Huan made up his mind that he must grow stronger in the future so that he could better help Zhu Gaoxu and make this place develop as soon as possible.

Since Zhu Gaoxu trusted him and entrusted him with a major responsibility, he must not let Zhu Gaoxu down.

This was a debt of gratitude even greater than the kindness of being recognized and rewarded. Zhu Huan knew very well that only by doing his utmost could he repay Zhu Gaoxu and show his gratitude.

Zhu Gaoxu was momentarily stunned when he saw Zhu Huan suddenly kneeling on the ground.

We were talking things out perfectly fine, and then this suddenly happened?

Without thinking further, he helped Zhu Huan up with both hands.

"It's just some things, some unexpected things. We'll figure them out gradually later. Don't rush it or overthink it."

In a short time, Zhu Gaoxu could roughly guess some of Zhu Huan's thoughts.

In fact, if he hadn't learned about these things during his modern-day period, he wouldn't have thought of them, nor would he have known them at all.

Are these things really that difficult?

It's not difficult.

The key is that in this day and age, nobody thinks in those directions.

Discovery and exploration are often the most difficult aspects.

This is what Zhu Gaochi always trusted; the most difficult step is to go from nothing to something.

But once you take that first step, the subsequent advancements, while still difficult, are much simpler compared to the initial step.

The first step is a complete change in mindset and other aspects, and a new cognitive system is initially formed.

Once your thinking is opened up, the challenges you encounter will be specific difficulties that you can find ways to overcome.

Seeing Zhu Huan's moved expression, Zhu Gaoxu spoke up again.

"Has the planning for Handong Prefecture that I asked you to do been completed yet?"

How many cities need to be built now? Is there a preliminary plan for the distribution of the population?

Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to delve into his feelings any further. He was also pressed for time and needed to finalize the necessary plans as soon as possible before moving on to the actual implementation phase.

Zhu Huan quickly composed himself and took out a map.

"Your Highness, this is a preliminary map of Handong Prefecture that I and others have drawn based on our understanding over this period of time."

I believe that the places where cities can be built today are located in the following locations.

There is a vast open area in Wakayama, surrounded by farmland and wasteland that can be reclaimed for cultivation, suitable for building a city and a medium-sized port.

Another option is Awaji Island. While it's not feasible to build a large city there, it's possible to construct a smaller city and settle the population in the surrounding area as a village.

Across from Awaji Island, there is a flat area that connects to this place, suitable for building a city and a medium-sized port.

After a city is built here, there are some smaller islands on the right side where a city can also be built, though the scale will not differ much from the previous one.

Next is the area to the right of Han-kyō, where a castle can be built, especially the part near Wakayama.

Furthermore, behind Hanjing, there is an even better place with a freshwater lake and vast plains, which can effectively connect to this area, and the waterways have the potential to be widened into a canal.

"Your Highness, I believe that establishing the Han capital here, as the capital of the Han Kingdom, would be most suitable."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the city that Zhu Huan had pointed out on the map, the very first one, which was located in Wakayama.

Behind them are Awaji, Akashi, and Kobe, while to the right is Osaka Prefecture.

In fact, he knew which of these places were suitable for building cities and for people to live in.

Zhu Gaochi frowned slightly at the idea of ​​moving Hanjing (Hanjing) further back, to Tokyo.

Normally, moving it to the back is feasible.

But now, that place is not the same as the one he saw in his previous life.

It requires a significant investment of resources to make it better.

This place has already undergone considerable development by Japan, and its level of development is much better than that place.

In addition, ports and other facilities will be more convenient, requiring only expansion rather than gradual development like land reclamation.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Gaoxu slowly shook his head.

"Hanjing is right here, it won't be moved. Even if the area behind it is developed, it will be incorporated into Handong Prefecture."

As for the cities that were established, they were Waka, Suito, Suisai, and Heyo.

These cities were expanded upon the foundations of cities such as Kii, Kawachi, and Nyejin.

Zhu Gaoxu ultimately rejected Zhu Huan's proposal, as it was simply not in line with the current development of the vassal states.

Zhu Huan didn't say anything, and then proceeded to describe all the farmland and wasteland surrounding each city.

All of these were measured, but it took a huge amount of manpower.

To accomplish this task, Zhu Gaoxu even selected three thousand men from the army to assist him and mobilized warhorses for Zhu Huan, aiming to complete the land survey as quickly as possible.

As for why it was so difficult, it was because Zhu Gaochi was so angry about Japan that he almost laughed. Japan simply didn't manage these things.

Zhu Gaoxu only realized later that it wasn't until after 1582, around the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, that the measurement and registration of land began.

Zhu Gaoxu still sighs with regret about the farmland that has been developed here.

The area that has already been developed and matured is less than 100,000 hectares.

It's still not enough to cover even half of the total arable land here.

This only includes the surrounding area, including Niejin, Hanoi, and Kii.

The rest is all undeveloped wasteland.

Based on current grain production, specifically rice production, 10,000 hectares of arable land, without considering any other influencing factors, could feed 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Based on 100,000 hectares, theoretically, it could support around 500,000 people.

However, now, the people he brought out must make up half of that number, plus the population that will migrate here later.

And there are still such a large number of slaves today.

Zhu Gaoxu was at a loss for words, wondering whether to say that Ashikaga Yoshimochi and the original clans were cruel enough, or that the people here were truly resilient.

Although many of these slaves were originally transferred from other places by Ashikaga Yoshimochi, their influence was no longer significant.

With such a small amount of arable land, and considering hunting and fishing, Zhu Gaoxu managed to feed these people with such a huge deficit. No wonder most of the people here were eating grass roots when he arrived.

Now that he had these slaves working, even though they weren't getting enough to eat, at least he was being fed some grain. Zhu Gaochi found himself to be incredibly benevolent.

No wonder those were the ones who started the trouble; no wonder they were all so compliant; no wonder they never thought of rebelling, even when they were working themselves to death.

So that's the reason.

Now Zhu Gaoxu is starting to have a headache. He doesn't want to lose these laborers, so how can he solve such a huge shortage?

Zhu Gaoxu really wants to go back to the modern era and ask, given the current situation, how can we support so many people?

Zhu Gaoxu frowned, genuinely anxious.