Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Liu Lishun's attempt to retain Sun Yuanhua was certainly not without purpose.

The biggest reason was to find out the route to the West.

The world map hanging in the Wuying Hall constantly reminded the officials to keep their eyes on the world.

The emperor's orders for missionaries to recount the rise of Spain and Portugal through maritime trade resonated deeply with a new generation of officials like Liu Lishun.

Perhaps for the Ming Dynasty as a whole, while maritime trade revenue was important, it was far less important than agriculture.

However, for the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, a stable trade route could allow this place to rise like Spain and Portugal.

As the person in charge of the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, Liu Lishun naturally attaches great importance to this point:
The Zuo Zhuan says: "If I can go, so can the enemy."

"Conversely, it means 'If Kou can go, so can I.'"

"If Westerners can sail thousands of miles to come to the Ming Dynasty, why can't the Ming Dynasty go to the West to conduct trade?"

"Ji Ming, you must find out information about this route."

"Whether our new district's shipping companies can stand out in the future depends on this."

Listening to Liu Lishun's instructions, Shen Tingyang asked with great interest:

"Does Lord Liu mean that the imperial court will not monopolize this air route?"

"Could we send ships to travel with the Western countries?"

This was his biggest concern, because after Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean, the imperial court monopolized trade with countries in Southeast Asia and the Western Ocean.

The current emperor sends ships to the West; does he not monopolize this shipping route?

Liu Lishun smiled and said:
"You underestimate His Majesty too much."

"His Majesty's vision extends to the entire world; how could he be preoccupied with the petty gains of a single shipping route?"

"Look at the Ming Dynasty Shipping Group, has it ever monopolized any shipping routes?"

"It deals in port and dock business, and can make money as long as maritime trade is thriving."

"His Majesty is eager for you to go to the West, so that the Ming shipping group can build ports and wharves along the way and extend the Ming's influence there."

This reply greatly encouraged Shen Tingyang, and he said to Liu Lishun:

"With Lord Liu's words, I am relieved."

"But traveling to the West is extremely dangerous. I heard that nearly half of the personnel on this mission were lost?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Lishun's expression changed, and he hurriedly refuted the rumor:

"The losses weren't that great; some people were left behind in Taixi."

"Moreover, the losses would have been even smaller if we hadn't encountered storms at the Cape of Good Hope on the return voyage."

"Xu Xianchun is currently being held there. Lord Sun has petitioned the court to send a ship to bring them back."

"The actual number of people lost..."

After a pause, Liu Lishun chose to reveal the truth to prevent rumors from spreading:

"It's about 30%, and that's because it was our first long voyage and we encountered difficulties we hadn't anticipated before."

This is the current statistical data. After the mission decided to temporarily stop in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, various related statistics have been compiled.

Personnel losses and material consumption are of paramount importance. We must learn from the experience and lessons of this voyage and be better prepared for the next one.

Hearing that the imperial court had made such an arrangement, Shen Tingyang was greatly encouraged and asked:

When will the next imperial mission to the West depart?

"Could you take us with you?"

After a moment's thought, Liu Lishun revealed:
"The imperial court left some personnel stationed in Taixi, and these people need to be rotated regularly."

"Therefore, the fleets sent to the western regions will be a regular occurrence, with ships departing and returning every year."

"If you want to go with me, that's certainly possible."

"It's just that we'll have to bear some of the costs."

Shen Tingyang said happily:
“It is our duty to bear the costs.”

"I will contact more people and send more ships over."

They planned to immediately purchase ocean-going vessels to expand trade with the West.

Liu Lishun hurriedly stopped him:
"We are only exploring now, so we cannot send too many ships."

"The Dutch are attacking Portuguese territories everywhere. The Ming delegation has the authority of the imperial court and is not carrying much cargo, so it is relatively safe."

"But large-scale trade is definitely not an option, as it would attract the attention of Dutch warships."

"The Ming Navy is currently unable to guarantee the safety of this shipping route, and it is not recommended to immediately commence large-scale trade."

This news startled Shen Tingyang, making him realize even more the dangers of long-distance trade.

Merchants like him would have no chance of venturing out without the protection of the Ming Dynasty. Let alone conducting trade on Western territories after arriving there.

Without the guidance of the Ming Dynasty's resident mission in the West, he wouldn't even know how trade could have started.

This made him exclaim:
"Your Majesty is truly farsighted. I believe that after a few more trips, we will definitely be able to secure this shipping route."

"It would be even better if we could incorporate all of Portugal's territories into a free trade zone, so that Ming ships could pass through freely."

This is the expectation of him and many other maritime merchants. After several years of implementation, the free trade zone system has become increasingly attractive.

Almost every merchant welcomes free trade. Even the Dutch, after learning that they could trade freely in places like Malacca, did not launch any further attacks against them.

Currently, the Ming Dynasty is enticing Goa and other places to become free trade zones, allowing Ming merchants to trade there.

Some Goa merchants were interested, while others did not want Ming Dynasty merchants to set foot in India.

This matter is still under debate, and the Ming Dynasty has not yet been able to influence Goa.

As Shen Tingyang reflected on these things, he became increasingly aware of the relationship between national strength and commercial interests. He hoped that the Ming Dynasty's navy would become even stronger to protect the maritime interests of Ming merchants.
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Meanwhile, after staying in the Susong New Area, Sun Yuanhua, Long Huamin, and others began to sort out the supplies they had brought back from the ship.

They brought back quite a lot of supplies from their mission to the West, and importantly, they made backups to prevent damage or loss.

Fortunately, despite encountering numerous dangers along the way, none of their ships sank completely. Most of the species and technology they collected were brought back safely.

To avoid losses on the upcoming voyage and to make the journey smoother, Sun Yuanhua was ordered to leave some supplies in Suzhou and Songjiang, where the Royal Academy of Sciences would send people to study and organize them.

In particular, the seeds of tropical and subtropical crops were ordered by the emperor to be completely preserved and studied by a research institute established by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Among them, the oil palm collected in West Africa was the most valued by the emperor, who specifically requested that it be planted in Southeast Asia, Dongning and other places.

这种油料作物的每亩产油量是花生的6倍、大豆的8倍、油菜的10倍。在后世它的种植面积仅占世界油料种植面积的5%，产油量却占到世界植物油的40%，是公认的“油料之王”。

High-yield and inexpensive palm oil will meet the Ming Dynasty's demand for edible oil, reducing competition for land between oil crops and grains. It will also promote the development of the food processing industry, boosting industries such as soap and instant noodles. Combined with the sugarcane grown in Dongning and the sugar beets grown in Northeast China, the Ming Dynasty's sugar industry will also flourish.

The calories provided by oil and sugar intake would reduce food consumption. This was one of the preparations Zhu Youjian made to cope with the drought.

Therefore, he attached great importance to these three crops and instructed the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to develop dry rations with high oil and sugar content and good storage properties, as military rations and disaster relief supplies.

Liu Lishun received relevant information, requiring him to plan ahead for related industries in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area. The supply and marketing group also placed orders, encouraging companies to develop such food products.

Nobles enfeoffed in Southeast Asia would also receive oil palm seeds and develop plantations there.

It can be said that the return of oil palm further solidified Zhu Youjian's determination to develop Southeast Asia. He also saw an opportunity to encourage nobles to migrate south and develop plantations in Southeast Asia.

Compared to rubber, which requires a long planting period, oil palm, with its shorter growing season, will allow Southeast Asian elites to see profits much faster. Many areas unsuitable for rice cultivation will also be able to be developed.

This crop, like rubber, will become a driving force for the development of Southeast Asia.

In the future, Southeast Asia will serve as a source of raw materials, promoting industrial development in areas such as Suzhou and Songjiang.

At this moment, Liu Lishun clearly felt:

The species and technologies brought back by the missions to the West will bring about certain changes to the three major industries of agriculture, commerce, and industry in the Ming Dynasty.
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However, his understanding was not enough. Zhu Youjian, who was far away in the capital, immediately ordered Han Kuang and Xu Guangqi to take the lead in comprehensively organizing and developing them after receiving the list of species and technologies collected by the mission.

Currently, the most valued crops, besides oil palm which can be grown in Southeast Asia, are oats and sugar beets.

Both of these crops are suitable for growing in cold regions, which is of great benefit to the development of Northeast China.

Especially after learning about the Europeans' methods of raising horses, Zhu Youjian looked at the vast plains of Northeast China and said to his ministers with great delight:
"Europe and the Northeast are at similar latitudes, and although their climates are very different, they still have similarities."

“Europeans can use oats to feed horses and use horses to plow fields. The same can be done in Northeast China, and these things can be promoted.”

"In this way, the hereditary soldiers of the Northeast Garrison can raise enough horses, just like the Western knights."

"The master of the grassland horse herds will no longer be able to cause trouble."

This was a point he valued highly, and it was also a point of importance to his ministers.

The northern grasslands have always been a major threat to the Central Plains.

Even at the end of the Song Dynasty, it fell to the enemy and the Central Plains were completely occupied by the barbarians.

This was a great humiliation for the Central Plains. After the emperor emphasized the distinction between Chinese and barbarians and launched the de-barbarianization movement, the complete elimination of the threat from the grasslands had become a common ideal of the emperor, his subjects, and the people.

With the improved combat capabilities brought about by firearms technology, the Ming Dynasty's new army was able to defeat the enemy in open field battles.

However, they were not quite able to completely eliminate them, and the Jurchens escaped last year.

The Privy Council has planned a further pursuit of the Jurchens, and this time the cavalry will be the main force.

Yuan Keli, the Grand Councilor, said:

"After the Jurchens fled west, it became difficult for the infantry to pursue them."

"To completely eliminate the Jurchens, we must rely on cavalry."

"I believe that the hereditary officers and soldiers of the Northeast Garrison can be trained into hereditary knights."

“The nobles who are enfeoffed in the Northeast can also be allowed to lead knights into battle, just like European nobles.”

This aligned with Zhu Youjian's viewpoint, as he also had this intention.

While the Western feudal system had many drawbacks, its advantages cannot be denied.

Given the decision to divide the grasslands, taking the example of how Western countries partitioned the grasslands is a viable option.

In particular, the economic aspects of Knight Manor offer many valuable lessons.

The Ming Dynasty needs to learn from the advantages of this system and cultivate knights who can use firearms.

Furthermore, by leveraging the advantages of a planned economy, the stability of the hereditary knights' lives was maintained. This allowed them to focus solely on farming and warfare, without having to worry about anything else.

Imagining the future of this system, Zhu Youjian suddenly heard Cheng Ji, the Minister of Rites, say:

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty encompasses the entire world; why should we adopt Western systems?"

"It should be known that the West is also a Western barbarian land; they are a barbarian country."

These words echoed the current emphasis on the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, but Zhu Youjian frowned upon hearing them.

His purpose in promoting the distinction between Chinese and barbarians was primarily to defeat the Jurchens, inspire nationalism to expand the territory, and relocate the Ming population, which had grown to the point of near explosion.

Instead of blindly rejecting foreign influences and ignoring the advantages of all external civilizations.

During the Age of Exploration, the West had already taken the lead and occupied half the world.

Zhu Youjian did not want to ignore the advantages of the West because of the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.

Therefore, upon hearing these words, he immediately addressed his ministers:

"The distinction between Chinese and barbarians should be emphasized, but we should not simply exclude foreigners."

"King Wuling of Zhao adopted the nomadic dress and mounted archery, incorporating the strengths of the steppe cavalry. Can he really be considered a barbarian ruler?"

"The Central Plains are skilled in agriculture, but have shortcomings in herding and training cavalry, which is an indisputable fact."

"Therefore, we should absorb the advantages of the steppe cavalry, and we should also absorb the excellent aspects of the training of Western knights."

"The distinction between Chinese and barbarians should not only be made clear, but also transformed barbarians into Chinese. The excellent aspects of barbarian groups, as well as their culture and technology, should be integrated into the Chinese culture."

"I hope that the Ming Dynasty will be open and inclusive, just like the Tang Dynasty, which embraced all rivers."

"At the same time, we should learn from the lessons of the Tang Dynasty and focus on the Han people to avoid the threat of non-Han peoples."

These words corrected some of the misguided directions in the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, preventing the emphasis on this distinction from turning into blind xenophobia.

Xu Guangqi was greatly encouraged upon hearing this, which strengthened his resolve to embrace Nestorian Christianity and study Western learning.

With the emperor's words, the criticism of Nestorianism should subside for a while.

He no longer had to live in fear every day when he saw the newspapers, worrying about new attacks on Nestorianism.

This made him extremely grateful for the achievements brought back by Sun Yuanhua's mission.

If it weren't for these factors, the emperor's attitude wouldn't have changed so quickly.

Soon, following the emperor's instructions, he drafted an edict to reward the mission that had returned from the West and ordered them to rest before continuing their journey north.

He also wrote a letter in private, telling Sun Yuanhua to be prepared.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Giulio Aleni, and others also wrote to Long Huamin, informing him of the changes in the Ming court and urging him to make corresponding preparations.

Guo Jijing, who was preaching in Jiangnan, was ordered to go to the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area to explain the changes in recent years to the people of Longhua and to get the Westerners who came with the mission to accept the Nestorian doctrine.

Nestorianism began to clash with and merge with other Christian sects. Previously based on Jesuit doctrines, Nestorianism began to adopt the principle of unification of religions and incorporate the doctrines of various sects to improve its teachings.

This facilitated the further Sinicization of Nestorianism, leading it to become increasingly open and inclusive. (End of Chapter)