Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 794: Nanyang Second Round

"Your Majesty, it's time to eat."

Yuxi Palace, side hall.

Liu Ruoyu walked in with his head lowered and bowed to Zhu Youxiao who was busy at his desk. It got dark before he knew it. The stars dotted the night sky and the wind was warm.

"What time is it?"

Zhu Youxiao put down the imperial pen, leaned tiredly on the cushion, and gently rubbed his swollen temples. The court meeting was over, but he was not idle.

"Your Majesty, it's three quarters past midnight."

Liu Ruoyu told the truth.

"Ah."

Zhu Youxiao responded, then thought of something and looked at Liu Ruoyu and asked, "Has the Queen eaten yet? Has her morning sickness gotten better recently?"

"Your Majesty, the Queen has already had her meal."

Liu Ruoyu bowed his head and said, "The queen is in much better shape now. Several imperial doctors have examined her and said that she is fine and just needs to rest in the West Garden."

"understood."

Zhu Youxiao lifted his robe and stood up, feeling touched in his heart. Pregnancy was not easy, especially for the first child. If you were not careful, problems would arise.

The weather is getting hotter, and the Forbidden City is not as comfortable as the Western Garden.

As time went by, after Queen Zhang Yan became pregnant, a few months later, good news came from the harem one after another, and several concubines were pregnant.

This also added a bit of joy to the harem.

In order to ensure the safety of pregnant women and fetuses, Zhu Youxiao ordered officials to make a lot of preparations involving all aspects in order to avoid accidents.

"I'm not hungry, let's remove the dinner."

Zhu Youxiao, who was worried, had no appetite at all and walked towards a hanging map. Liu Ruoyu was a little hesitant. He wanted to step forward to persuade him but was afraid of disturbing the emperor.

But skipping dinner is not an option.

If this goes on, the dragon's body will not be able to bear it.

"If the Xin'an Port under Guangdong's jurisdiction can be successfully built, the opening of the sea to the outside world under the leadership of the Ming Central Government will usher in earth-shaking changes."

Compared to the trivial matters that Liu Ruoyu was thinking about, Zhu Youxiao at this moment was thinking about military and national affairs. The map hanging in front of him was a special map for maritime affairs and maritime trade.

This map is top secret and is completely unknown to the outside world.

Looking at the coastal ports marked on the map surrounding the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, Zhu Youxiao's mouth curled up slightly. The plan to open up the sea that he had envisioned was quietly undergoing this change.

With Tianjin as the core of opening up to the outside world, closely surrounding northern Zhili, Liaodong, Korea and other places, the northern coastal ports such as Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Dengzhou, Yantai, Weihai, Dandong, Lushun, Yingkou, Jinzhou, and Huludao that were successively built have either taken shape or are being actively planned. In addition, through the two events of resisting the invaders and aiding Korea and suppressing the Korean usurpation, the Ming Dynasty actually controlled several important coastal areas of Korea. The scale of maritime trade in this area is in a stage of steady growth, and the customs, shipbuilding, maritime trade and other fields involved in the coastal areas are developing.

Unlike the waters to the south, the above-mentioned areas are all under the actual control of the central or local governments. In particular, the maritime forces established there not only have to ensure the military needs of Liaodong, North Korea and other places, but also regularly go out to sea to combat smuggling. This has gradually squeezed the space for smuggling in maritime trade.

"After all, the maritime trade in the northern border cannot compare to the maritime trade in the southern border."

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh: "If the maritime trade in southern Xinjiang can be controlled by the central government, many urgent problems in the Ming Dynasty can be solved with a stable source of funds."

"Unfortunately, the strength of the Ming Royal Navy is still too weak. It is somewhat stretched to take care of the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and other seas, and meet the military needs of Liaodong and Korea. If it were stronger, it could continue to move south."

"Your Majesty, hasn't the scale of the maritime force that Dongfan is planning to build increased several times compared to the initial scale?" Liu Ruoyu asked with a puzzled look on his face when he heard this.

"It is true that it has increased several times, but it cannot be used lightly."

Zhu Youxiao sighed and pointed at the map in front of him. "The troops led by Wei Zhongxian are trying to gain a firm foothold in Dongfan. Through immigration, city building, port repair, road construction, canal construction, and land reclamation, they are gradually penetrating into various parts of Dongfan. Especially after the war with the Dutch, many maritime forces, big and small, dare not easily get involved in Dongfan."

"But what good is that?"

"More than 70% of the Dongfan navy led by Yu Zigao can only operate in the near sea. We have to take good care of the Dongfan coast, take into account the Penghu waters, and deter the so-called Han merchants who have surrendered. Wei Zhongxian regularly sends urgent reports to Beijing about the situation in the southern border, Dongfan, and Nanyang, but this does not mean that I can control it remotely from Beijing."

"Your Majesty is worried about the Southeast Sea Merchants?"

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Liu Ruoyu thought of something and spoke hesitantly.

“Not just Southeast!!”

Zhu Youxiao said with a sharp look in his eyes: "Since Chen Qiyu took office as the governor of Guangdong, a lot of smuggling has been found along the coast of Guangdong. Some of them went south to Southeast Asia, and some of them went from Haojing to Ryukyu and then to East Japan."

"This is the actual situation in Guangdong that has been ascertained. What about the actual situation in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili that has not been ascertained yet? Maritime trade in southern Xinjiang involves all aspects."

"It involves not only various groups but also various fields, both internally and externally. If we want to completely control the maritime trade in southern Xinjiang by the central government or local governments, we must have sufficient maritime power."

It seems that if Xin'an Port under the jurisdiction of Guangdong is really built, all kinds of troubles will arise.

When Liu Ruoyu heard this, he immediately understood in his heart that once Xin'an Port was built, the imperial court would have mutually supporting barriers in Guangdong, Fujian, Dongfan and other places, and then completely block the sea routes to the south and north.

The situation in the past where anyone who wanted to come in could come in, and anyone who wanted to come out could leave will be gone forever.

Once this can be accomplished, the customs set up in the coastal areas of the northern border can be extended all the way south. In this way, the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty will be dominated by the central government or local areas. But how many people's interests will be affected by this matter!
Liu Ruoyu didn't dare to think about it further.

"The maritime disasters on the southeast coast are not only caused by the ICAC, but also partly by the influence of Dongfan, Guangdong and other places."

Zhu Youxiao clenched his hanging hands, "I'm afraid some of these people have seen through my intentions. I won't collect taxes, I won't lead, I won't control. I'll try to block the sea passage first. Now they are not affected, they are not restricted, what can we do next?"

"The Ming Dynasty has lost so much initiative and advantage in maritime affairs that those vested interest groups now regard Ming Dynasty's maritime affairs as their private interests. They will be dissatisfied with anyone who dares to touch them, even the imperial court."

"If that's the case, then let's fight. Zou Weilian from Penghu, Cao Lutai from Dongfan, Xiong Wencan from Fujian, and Chen Qiyu from Guangdong are supporting Wei Zhongxian in various ways in various places. I can't do that. Wei Zhongxian, who doesn't play by the rules, won't be able to defeat those guys!!"

Quietly, the second wave of offensive against Southeast Asia has begun. If the strategic deployment to be achieved in this stage can be realized, there will be significant changes in the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)