Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

The great sailing fleet led by Xu Da had not yet arrived at the capital.

We have already received the news that His Majesty will bring civil and military officials to the platform to pick us up.

If there were no trains in the past.

This is equivalent to going out of the city thirty miles to meet them.

For a minister, this is the highest honor.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only Yang Xian had enjoyed this treatment when he returned from his campaign in the grasslands.

After returning to the imperial city, the rest of the fleet was led to rest, while Xu Da went directly to the Fengtian Palace. Even though he looked exhausted at the moment, Zhu Yuanzhang could not wait any longer.

In the Fengtian Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang finally asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.

"Tian De, have you reached the end of the earth this time?"

Xu Da stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, the fleet has not yet reached the end of the earth."

As soon as these words were spoken, shocked cries were heard in the court. A fleet of this size, with such advanced and majestic warships, had not arrived after such a long time.

How vast this world is.

However, this result was within Lao Zhu's expectations. Lao Zhu, who had been familiar with the world map, knew how big the real world was and how it was not so easy to reach.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, then asked: "Did you discover anything along the way, and which countries did you pass through?"

Xu Da said, "Your Majesty, according to the established route, after our fleet passed through the Japanese islands, it was a vast ocean. After that, the fleet sailed eastward and did not encounter any large inhabited islands, let alone any countries, but..."

At this moment, everyone in the court focused their attention on Xu Da.

"But we have reached the end of this sea!"

After these words were spoken, the ministers could no longer control their excitement and there was an uproar.

Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting on the dragon throne, had a twinkle in his eyes and could not help asking, "What is the end of this sea?"

"Your Majesty, the end of this ocean is the New World!"

"It is a territory that has not yet been cultivated, and its area is even larger than that of our Ming Dynasty!"

This news was so shocking that, except for Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da, all the civil and military officials present knew for the first time that in addition to the Chinese land under their feet, there was actually a piece of land so large that could be compared with the Chinese land in the east of the vast ocean.

There were constant exclamations in the court.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang remained calm. He leaned forward slightly and asked the question that concerned him the most: "Tian De, is there any country on that continent?"

Xu Da shook his head and said, "After arriving at the new continent, we explored as much as possible and sent people to explore in four directions. The area is so vast that we spent more than a month without seeing the end."

"During this period, no country was discovered. There were only the most primitive tribes, similar to our ancient Chinese."

The moment he heard this answer, Zhu Yuanzhang's breathing became heavy. No one knew better than him what it meant to have such a vast continent with no formal country on it.

This means that this is a vast unowned land!

If the army of the Ming Dynasty could set foot on this continent, they would encounter almost no resistance and would be able to more than double their existing territory without any effort!
By then, the territory acquired would be greater than the total expansion in these years. And the most important point is that this expansion does not require any price. You must know that even though the military and national strength of the Ming Dynasty are overwhelmingly ahead of the surrounding countries in these years, whether it is fighting against Japan, Goryeo, the eight surrounding countries, or the fourth brother's westward expedition, it requires a lot of manpower and material resources. Some ministers in the court also reacted quickly, and their hearts were surging.

Expanding territory has always been one of the most important indicators for evaluating the achievements of ancient emperors.

When Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this, his blood boiled and he felt a sense of heroism in his heart.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was not carried away and quickly calmed down. For him, the most important purpose of Xu Da's voyage was to verify the authenticity of Yang Xian's world map.

If we really want to incorporate it into the map, there are still many problems to be solved.

After all, the two continents are too far apart. If the Ming army is sent to suppress the tribe, how many people would be needed, and how many civilians would be needed to build the city?

Is it affordable with today's fleet size?

Moreover, by then, there are a series of issues that need to be considered clearly, such as whether the people sent to this continent will be out of the control of the Ming Dynasty.

The New World is not Japan, the Ming fleet can arrive at any time.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang held a grand banquet in the Wuying Palace to welcome Xu Da.

During the visit, Xu Da recounted what he saw and heard during the voyage and in the New World. He also had people present some rare and special products that he had exchanged from the primitive people of the New World tribes, which amazed all the officials.

At the end of the 13th year of Hongwu, the news of the discovery of the New World made the entire Ming Dynasty, from top to bottom, plunged into joy, as if they had walked out of the panic of the Hu Ni case.

In the 14th year of Hongwu, none of the countries that had participated in the siege of the Ming Dynasty were left behind, and all were destroyed by the Ming Dynasty's firearms. From then on, the Ming Dynasty no longer had any hidden dangers, and all the surrounding small countries were incorporated into the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Zhu Yuanzhang's prestige also reached its peak, surpassing any emperor in history.

At the New Year's banquet in the 14th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang announced something and began to enfeoff princes on a large scale, including his nephew.

Because there is so much newly expanded territory.

Deep in the mind of Lao Zhu, the idea of ​​a family-run empire still remains, and he does not trust other people.

Yang Xian could feel that Old Zhu was gradually becoming wary of him. Perhaps he had always been wary of him, but in the beginning his need for him far outweighed everything else, which was why Old Zhu ignored it.

Especially after Xu Miaoyun also married Yang Xian, this vigilance reached its peak.

Of course, he did not show it on his face, and Yang Xian's status remained transcendent.

He has not been idle in the past two years, tinkering with various technologies. The merit points on the system have risen to an astronomical figure, and are still increasing at an astonishing speed every moment.

Old Zhu urged Yang Xian to continue improving the ship. It was obvious that Old Zhu still had not forgotten the continent across the sea.

In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the fourth brother completely defeated the coalition forces of the Principality of Ross for the third time and completely subdued them.

In the 17th year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty's iron army arrived in Egypt and saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. This feat completely surpassed the Yuan Dynasty's iron cavalry's westward expedition.

In the 18th year of Hongwu, the Western Expedition ended.

The Ming Dynasty reached its most prosperous period.

No one expected that in this year, a trivial matter that seemed insignificant to some people would cause a huge storm. (End of this chapter)