King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Zhu Tan is a modern man. Now the Ming Dynasty wants to develop its navy and expand its territory. The Ryukyu Islands, which are located in the Pacific Ocean, are natural aircraft carriers. Their strategic significance far exceeds their economic benefits.

However, Zhu Tan has such vision because of his God's perspective. It is still unknown whether old man Zhu Yuanzhang can think of this step now.

Of course Zhu Tan could take people there now and, in the name of the Prince of Ming Dynasty, ask the King of Ryukyu to contribute manpower and help build facilities such as ports.

But now is a turbulent time, and the affairs of the court are still unresolved. Zhu Tan does not want to cause himself this trouble, so he can only ask the old man for his opinion first.

"Let's just take a walk here for a few days and rest."

Zhu Tan looked at Tang He again and smiled softly, "Thank you for your concern, father-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Tang He straightened his face and said, "This is the duty of an old minister."

"By the way, there's one more thing."

Zhu Tan changed the subject and said, "Penghu City also needs a chief officer. Please ask my father in my name to transfer Wang Junliang, the county magistrate of Changguo, to serve as the prefect here."

Hearing this, Tang He's heart moved slightly, and he said softly, "Okay."

After Tang He left, Zhu Tan leaned on the soft couch in the room, looking at the sparkling sea outside with a calm expression.

Almost everything that needed to be done had been done, and all that was left was to wait for the old man's decree.

Although Zhu Tan was concerned about the expedition to Japan, he did not take it too seriously.

If twenty ironclad warships were fully equipped, in the face of absolute military force, with Japan's current combat capabilities, they would be no match at all and could be easily torn to pieces.

Moreover, at that time, the situation in Japan was not peaceful. There were warlords everywhere. The so-called leader of Japan was just a puppet, and the real power was in the hands of the shogunate.

Japan is not on the same level as the Ming Dynasty in terms of either civil governance or military power. If they were truly capable of governing their own country well, there wouldn't be so many Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, who would even steal the clothes worn by the people.

Zhu Tan's thoughts were flying, and he couldn't help but think of the current situation in the court.

Judging from the time, my eldest brother Zhu Biao should be arriving in the capital soon. I don’t know how big a storm will be caused in the future.

Zhu Tan was thinking about these random things when he heard light footsteps outside. He didn't look back, but he knew it was Ma He coming.

These palace servants have received professional training. They walk with small steps and very soft voices, like ghosts.

When he got closer, Ma He bowed slightly, holding a file in his hand, and spoke softly.

"Your Highness, I have concluded all the inquiries."

"It's pretty fast."

Zhu Tan still looked at the sea in the distance and asked, "What news is there? Tell me the most important ones."

Hearing this, Ma He thought for a moment and said, "The Park family has been stationed here for more than ten years, and new people are moved here every year."

"They built schools, pharmacies and other facilities in the city and provided them free of charge to the people on the island."

"The Park family will teach all the Japanese who come to the island to speak Chinese and pass on some of our knowledge to them."

"The Japanese named Xiaotian said that the reason why there were so many Japanese near Changguo and why they attacked Changguo County repeatedly was because the Park family wanted to open up a trade route in this direction, transport their goods from the sea, and secretly send them to Zhejiang Province."

Hearing this, Zhu Tan retracted his gaze, turned to look at Ma He, squinted his eyes and whispered: "They are planning something big!"

Raise your vision and consider things from the perspective of the Park family.

They colluded with Japanese pirates, occupied the islands and reefs near the coast of the Ming Dynasty, managed Penghu, and connected the islands with the aim of building a larger business empire.

They also knew in their hearts that it was impossible to accomplish anything by relying on these Japanese. If they wanted to truly take root overseas, continue their nation, or even truly restore their country in the end, they still had to rely on economic means.

If they were allowed to take over Changguo, the Park family would probably become the financial backer behind Japan, using the Japanese to develop normal maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning, the Ming Dynasty naturally refused, so they intensified their attacks. With Penghu, Changguo and the islands along the way, the Japanese pirates could constantly harass the Ming Dynasty's sea borders and force the Ming Dynasty to surrender.

Fighting and making peace at the same time, the Park family might have connections in the Ming court, and it is possible to achieve this goal through the mouths of those people.

If things really developed to this point, the Park family would become a country within a country hidden in the Ming Dynasty, loading Ming Dynasty's things onto ships in Fujian, then sailing around the sea, and then exchanging them for Japanese things and selling them to the Ming Dynasty.

Pour from left hand to right hand and make a fortune.

This is the method that Zhu Tan could think of immediately after hearing the news. The actual plan of the Park family may be more evil and larger.

Oh, Jewish.

Zhu Tan narrowed his eyes and looked at Ma He, and said, "They want to eat up the Ming Dynasty bite by bite, and continue to grow stronger through coastal trade."

"Once the time is right and they are strong enough, they will definitely join forces with the Japanese to attack the Ming Dynasty and tear a big hole in the Ming Dynasty's territory."

"His heart is to be killed!"

Hearing Zhu Tan's words, Ma He felt a sudden chill in his heart.

He didn't think so deeply, let alone so far.

After getting the confession, Ma He still thought that the Park family just wanted to occupy Penghu, deepen cooperation with the Japanese, and continue to harass the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders and expand the robbery.

Now after listening to Zhu Tan's analysis, Ma He frowned and gritted his teeth.

If you really count them, the people of the Park family are much more hateful than the Japanese.

Without the support of the Park family, the Japanese would not have been able to achieve so much.

"What else did you say?"

Zhu Tan asked again, and Ma He immediately put aside his thoughts and spoke.

"This Xiaotian, as well as the Japanese people on Penghu, are mostly from the Yamana family of the Japanese shogunate."

"I also asked about this shogunate servant. It's probably equivalent to their frontier governors in Japan. Their King of Japan is just a decoration. Each shogunate occupies different territories and fights against each other. They also have autonomy."

"As for the Japanese pirates that disturbed the Ming Dynasty, they were not sent by the Yamana family at first. The Yamana family saw that the Japanese pirates had robbed a lot of things in the Ming Dynasty, so they became interested and began to recruit people thirteen years ago and continuously sent them to the Ming Dynasty."

"Your Highness wiped out the Japanese strongholds and killed a large number of Japanese, most of whom were from the Yamana family."

"The Yamana family also gained a greater status in Japan because of this incident, and has become the most powerful shogunate."

Zhu Tan thought for a moment after hearing this, and then asked, "When did the Pu family get in touch with them?"

"I don't know about this, Oda."

Ma He said: "I have tried many methods, but he always said he didn't know. I guess he really doesn't know."

Zhu Tan nodded. This was almost the same as he had predicted.

The Park family made such a big plan that it was impossible for them to leave obvious evidence for people to follow.

Their collusion with the Japanese pirates was not without consideration for future planning, and they did put a lot of effort into it, and indeed achieved certain results.

But the Park family and the Japanese made a mistake.

They don't understand the old man at all.

If the old man wants to prosecute someone, what evidence does he really need? He just does it.

The reason why the old man kept the Park family alive and let them jump around was actually to release bait to catch bigger fish.

Seeing Zhu Tan lost in thought, Ma He did not disturb him. He just stood there silently, waiting quietly. Until he saw Zhu Tan let out a long sigh, he spoke softly.

"That Xiaotian also said that there will be two ships of people coming from Japan soon."

"They have established a relatively complete chain, and have agreed to send two cargo ships from Japan every ten days to load food and other supplies here and send them back to Japan."

“It will also bring in more people.”

"That Xiaotian wanted to use this information to exchange for a life."

"Heh." Zhu Tan sneered, "He still thinks he can survive? What a daydream." He sat down and looked at Ma He, then asked, "Did he say anything else?"

"I've said a lot." Ma He bowed and said, "But these are the important points."

"That person also talked about the current situation in Japan and the situation of the Yamana Shogunate."

"I read it all. Since I couldn't be sure whether the news he said was true or not, I just wrote it down."

Zhu Tan nodded and smiled gently when he heard this.

Ma He is indeed very sensible in doing things. He can clearly distinguish what should be said and what should not be said, what is important news and what is not.

Japan is thousands of miles away, and there are no Ming Dynasty spies there. Many of the things that Xiaotian said about Japan cannot be verified, and it is difficult to tell whether they are true or false. They cannot be taken seriously. Therefore, he cannot tell Zhu Tan about it and influence his master's judgment.

But since Xiaotian still wants to survive, we can take advantage of him.

Zhu Tan paused for a moment and said, "Go and tell that Xiao Tian that if he does what I tell him to do, he can live."

"Have him send a message to Japan in his own name, telling the people in the shogunate that something happened here and asking them to send more people."

"As for what it is, let him figure it out himself."

Zhu Tan smiled and said, "The more people we bring in, the longer he can live."

"If one more person comes, he can live one more day."

Ma He suddenly felt that his master's smile was a little evil. Hearing these words, even he felt a chill down his spine.

Zhu Tan was planning to set up a net and try to lure as many Japanese as possible from Japan to come and press them down in Penghu.

It is foreseeable what will be the fate of the Japanese who come to Penghu in the future.

Although she was shocked, Ma He did not show any expression. Instead, she bowed slightly and said in a deep voice, "I obey your command."

"Put the file here. I'll look at it when I have time."

Zhu Tan pointed to the dining table nearby and said, "Take the vegetables on top and eat them. Don't waste them."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Ma He knelt down and kowtowed, then picked up the vegetables on the table and went down.

After wandering on the sea for days, these green vegetables are a rare commodity. Moreover, they were given by the prince as a reward, which to some extent also shows Zhu Tan's love for Ma He.

This is how the era is. Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. Zhu Tan has slowly gotten used to it.

……

In a blink of an eye, another two days passed.

Zhu Biao's escort slowly entered Yingtian Prefecture. After dealing with trivial matters, he went straight into the palace to meet the old man.

It was already evening, but Zhu Yuanzhang had not stopped working yet. He was sitting on the dragon chair reading memorials.

"Father."

Zhu Biao walked in quickly, came close and bowed respectfully: "Your son is back."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even raise his eyebrows, but just hummed softly and asked, "Is it going well?"

"It's going well."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "As expected by the emperor, the tenth elder did intend to use the Pu family to make a fuss, but I stopped him."

"He looted tens of millions of silver in Quanzhou. According to your opinion, he should have kept it all for himself."

"Oh, you little brat."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial and scolded with a smile: "This kid is so clever, I wonder who he inherited this from."

"He's full of tricks and loves money."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao said nothing. He just stood there with a smile on his face, muttering to himself.

Who should I follow? Isn't it you?

"I heard that he was assassinated? How is he? What about the assassin?"

"Oh, I've brought it back to the capital."

Zhu Biao immediately replied: "Tenth brother is fine, the assassin didn't even touch him, he was killed by his musket."

"The assassin is not dead. His life has been saved after rescue. The two handed him over to the Ministry of Justice."

"According to the assassin, he is an old subordinate of Zhang Shicheng."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes, and then he spoke.

"The ghost lingers!"

"He is a dead soldier, there is no need to try him again."

"Tell the Ministry of Justice to take good care of the man, and execute him in two months with three thousand cuts!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was gloomy, and Zhu Biao did not dare to act rashly, and immediately said, "Yes."

He assassinated the king and the emperor, and the person he assassinated was his own son. If he could still tolerate it, he would not be Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Where's Jiang Li?"

"Commander-in-Chief Jiang and I have entered the capital together and are waiting outside."

"Let him kneel and wait!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "You can't even handle such a small matter!"

"Father, please calm down." Zhu Biao knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was not really angry with Jiang Lin, but because after twenty years, there were still people who would fight for Zhang Shicheng, which made the old man unhappy. He was just venting his anger.

"Commander Jiang did his best on this mission and nothing went wrong."

"You also know that the temper of the Tenth Master is the same as yours. Apart from listening to you, he also gives his son some face. No one else dares to challenge him."

Zhu Biao understood the old man's temper. After he finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression softened a little and he said, "What you said makes sense."

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at Zhu Biao and said, "You protect everyone. I think you are going to make a big fuss."

Zhu Biao said nothing when he heard this, but just smiled.

"What about the Park family? Have you found out?"

"We have checked and found that the Jinyiwei's report is basically true."

Hearing the old man's question, Zhu Biao immediately stopped smiling and said seriously, "The Pu family has correspondence with some people in the court, and they have great ambitions."

"They colluded with Japanese pirates to occupy overseas islands with the intention of restoring their country."

"These people each take what they need, and they want to divide up our Ming Dynasty and eat it up."

Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, but he did not get angry. Instead, he closed his eyes and sighed, "Unexpected, but reasonable."

"Biao'er."

"My son is here."

"Then do as you say."

"Yes." (End of chapter)