Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 17: The beginning is the peak of the voyage to the West
"Who is this eunuch? You seem to think highly of him?"

Old Zhu, who was already familiar with Zhu Zhanjun, saw that Zhu Zhanjun attached great importance to this eunuch and asked curiously.

"A very capable eunuch, and also one who may go down in history."

Zhu Zhanjun thought of the admiration that Zheng He had received from later generations and replied to Old Zhu.

"Oh yeah, tell me."

After hearing what Zhu Zhanjun said, Old Zhu became interested.

Zhu Zhanjun, his second uncle, third uncle, Zheng He and others walked towards the Fengtian Hall while telling the old man about Zheng He's experiences and his feat of sailing to the West.

The old man just nodded slightly after hearing this, not caring at all that Zheng He had broken the rule he had set that no piece of wood could be put into the sea.

In fact, this was a misunderstanding of later generations. It was not until he came to the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Zhanjun understood the true meaning of this sentence.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established this rule, it was not to prohibit ordinary people from going out to sea to fish or doing business.

It was because there were many of Zhang Shicheng's former subordinates overseas, and in order to prevent someone from colluding with them and selling out Ming intelligence, as well as things like Japanese pirates and smuggling, Zhu Yuanzhang made this rule.

This rule is mainly aimed at smuggling and collusion with the Japanese. Merchant ships that go through formal official channels and fishing that is reported by local authorities are allowed.

I don't know which idiot in later generations misinterpreted this sentence and thought that no one was allowed to go into the sea.

As the saying goes, "live by the mountain, eat from the mountain; live by the water, eat from the water." The people living by the sea depend on the sea for their livelihood. If they are not allowed to go to the sea, how can they survive?
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely cruel and ruthless to his noble ministers and aristocrats, but he was kind to the common people from the bottom of his heart and would never give such a brainless order.

"He is a courageous man, but unfortunately he is a eunuch."

After listening to Zheng He's childhood experiences and his current experiences, Lao Zhu sighed.

"Establishing trade and exchanges among the nations is a good move. This will open up trade routes and bring countless gold and silver to the court."

"It can also publicize the prestige of the Ming Dynasty to the world, and conduct probing and monitoring of other countries in the world. Once a country that threatens the Ming Dynasty is found, it can prepare for future military action. This is a good move."

Hearing Zhu's high praise for the move of sailing to the West, Zhu Zhanjun just smiled and did not respond.

In terms of political goals, national interests and historical influence, Zheng He's voyages to the West were a great feat of the Yongle Dynasty.

However, when it comes to the people's livelihood and aristocratic families, it may not be such a good move.

Zheng He's voyages to the West did bring a lot of goods, which made the old man very wealthy.

But the old man didn't understand business, or he was in urgent need of money, so he put a large number of precious spices into the market, causing the prices of these spices to plummet rapidly.

It even developed to the point in the later stages where officials were paid directly with pepper.

This made the officials of the Yongle Dynasty worried about the large amount of pepper.

Sell ​​it, but it won't sell. The imperial court has sold it everywhere, and those who can afford it have already bought it. For those who can't afford it, no matter how cheap you sell it, it's still a price they can't afford.

The officials of the Yongle Dynasty held the valuable pepper, but ended up with their entire families almost starving to death.

It can be seen how deceiving this old man in my family is.

As for the common people, Zheng He's voyages to the West brought almost no benefits to them.

They couldn't afford pepper, let alone various rare treasures.

The common people had never even seen or eaten the tropical fruits that Zheng He brought back.

Things like durian, let alone during the Yongle and Ming dynasties, even in the later market, many people would shudder when looking at the price.

Zhu Zhanjun's evaluation of Zheng He's voyages to the West was that the significance was greater than the actual effect. Of course, this was only for the current behavior, not for the impact of some actions on later history.

In addition, the maintenance and supply of Zheng He's fleet was another considerable expense, which brought no benefits to everyone but only enriched the emperor. The emperor made money, but the fleet expenses were paid by the court. Only a fool would do such a thing.

In addition, as the imperial capital moved to the north, representatives of the southern gentry groups saw the benefits of going out to sea and wanted to take a piece of the pie.

Just after the old man passed away, the officials collectively clamored to cancel the voyage to the West, and even resorted to ancestral laws to put pressure on the emperor.

No matter how good the emperor is, it is not as good as the money in his own pocket.

In addition to various reasons of the imperial court, overseas expansion came to an end with the end of the Yongle Dynasty, and thus missed the carriage of development of the times.

Recalling the historical records of voyages to the West, Zhu Zhanjun looked at Zheng He, who was at the peak of his powers, and shook his head secretly.

“I thought it was a glorious beginning, but I didn’t expect it to be the peak right from the start.”

"Your Highness, are you going to tell me?"

Zheng He, who was standing by, saw Zhu Zhanjun looking at him. He thought that this prince had thought it through and wanted to tell him about things in the north, and he suddenly felt happy.

Zhu Zhanjun looked at Zheng He strangely and said, "No, I just want to take another look at you."

Zheng He: ???
When they arrived at Fengtian Hall, the old man had already entered the palace from another gate. He was sitting on the dragon throne, looking at Zhu Zhanjun with a smile.

Seeing Zheng He following Zhu Zhanjun in depression, he smiled and asked, "You two are both heroes who have helped the Ming Dynasty explore the unknown world. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Zheng He smiled awkwardly, bowed and stood aside.

He wanted to chat, but the prince refused to talk to him at all.

Zhu Zhanjun did not continue the topic. He walked to the center of the hall and, under the gaze of all the ministers, paid homage to the old man.

"Your grandson Zhu Zhanjun wishes you well."

The old man sitting at the top had gratification in his eyes and nodded repeatedly.

"I'm safe."

"huh huh huh huh……"

Before Zhu Zhanjun got up, Old Zhu in the ranch made a sound that was hard to tell whether it was laughter or anger. Zhu Zhanjun felt the hairs on his back stand on end. He looked at the smiling old man with sympathy.

The old man sitting on the dragon throne also felt a chill on his back for some reason. This feeling was very similar to the feeling when his father was looking at him in anger.

Although it was strange that such a strange thing happened inexplicably, the old man did not take it too seriously. After all, his father had been dead for so many years.

Standing up and walking around the imperial desk, the old man said loudly: "My grandson Zhu Zhanjun bravely stood up when the northern expedition army was leaderless and in the most dangerous time, and brought back this 100,000-man army, saving our Ming Dynasty from a heavy loss."

"He commanded the legions at the same time and dealt heavy damage to the Tatar sneak attack troops several times, which was a rare feat at his age throughout history."

The officials listened to the old man telling what everyone knew and nodded slightly with smiles on their faces.

Be it civil officials, military officers, or nobles, they all had a very good impression of Zhu Zhanjun at this moment.

Apart from anything else, the fact that they avoided a major defeat and saved themselves countless troubles made them happy.

"Little guy." The old man looked at Zhu Zhanjun with a smile and said proudly, "Tell me what you want. As long as grandpa can give it to you, I will never be stingy."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhanjun subconsciously glanced at the seat, but retracted his eyes in an instant.

He showed a flattered expression on his face and was about to refuse with his hands raised when a loud shout suddenly came from behind him, interrupting his words of refusal.

"Your Majesty, wait a minute. I have something to report!"

(End of this chapter)