Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1255 Father and Son Conspire Together
Zhu Minlan closed the memorial and said to Zhu Shenzhui, "My second brother has submitted this memorial. In my opinion, it should be forwarded directly to the cabinet for approval. The cabinet should then devise a solution, and Father can make the final decision."

"Are you so confident that the cabinet will reject your second brother's suggestion?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

"Hehe, since my second brother submitted this memorial, he must have already given it careful consideration. In my opinion, the cabinet probably won't get involved in this matter, and it will likely have to return to Father Emperor in the end."

Zhu Minlan's statement was actually Zhu Shenzhui's judgment: if the court agreed to the request in the memorial, then the court would set up prefectures and counties in the New World and send officials to manage them.

If it were within the Ming Dynasty's mainland, or not far from it, that would be one thing, like the Xiaoliuqiu region today. Since the Ming Dynasty reclaimed Xiaoliuqiu, it established a prefecture there and dispatched officials to govern it. In recent years, it has also continuously sent immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong to Xiaoliuqiu to increase its population, reclaim wasteland, and build a good harbor.

However, Xiaoliuqiu differed from the Song Dynasty. It wasn't far from the mainland; a boat trip from Xiamen could take as little as a day. Furthermore, Xiaoliuqiu had been inhabited since the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period, many people from the Eastern Wu migrated there and even established administrative institutions. Although Xiaoliuqiu wasn't truly incorporated into the mainland, its influence throughout history was immense. Moreover, with the Ming Dynasty's expansion and naval development, coupled with the demands of maritime trade, Xiaoliuqiu's excellent location made it a very suitable transit point.

Under these circumstances, the effective management and development of Xiaoliuqiu by the Ming Dynasty was a natural progression, and the establishment of prefectures and the dispatch of officials by the imperial court were not problematic. However, the situation was different for the Song Dynasty. Located thousands of miles away, it required ocean-going ships to reach the Song Dynasty. Not only was the journey long, but the trip itself took nearly two months, and the risks of sea voyages were extremely high. Although there had been naval and Imperial Household Department ships traveling to and from the Song Dynasty in recent years, and many immigrants had also traveled by ship, many had perished en route due to the unpredictable nature of the sea, various conditions, and unexpected events. Even last year, one of the Imperial Household Department's cargo ships sank to the bottom of the sea after being hit by a storm, resulting in the loss of all its people and cargo. This illustrates the inherent risks.

In this situation, it seems that it wouldn't be difficult for the imperial court to establish prefectures in the New World. It would only require approval from the cabinet, then the emperor's approval, and finally the various departments to go through the procedures. However, in reality, this was not easy to do. Not to mention that the division and establishment of prefectures could not be completed in a short time, there would probably be no one willing to send officials overseas.

The New World is so far from the mainland, which official would willingly leave their comfortable homeland and risk such a mission to serve there? Moreover, the position wouldn't be as prestigious as in the mainland. The New World is a wild and undeveloped land, lacking everything. Even if there are gold mines, they are controlled by the King of Song. As a vassal king, the King of Song wields far more power than any vassal king within the country. Wouldn't it be easy for him to make things difficult for his officials thousands of miles away? He could even kill a few people and claim they died from illness due to the change in environment; the court would hardly investigate!

Given these conditions, Zhu Minlan concluded that the cabinet would definitely pass this hot potato to his father, Emperor Zhu Shenzhui, and might even suggest that since it was an external vassal state, there was no need to set up government offices and send officials like the local imperial family's fiefdoms. Instead, they should follow the custom of vassal states and let the Song Prince Zhu Mincheng manage it himself. At worst, they could try to take advantage of this opportunity to get some benefits from the Song state, so that they could explain themselves to everyone.

Listening to the Crown Prince's opinion, Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly. However, it would be inconvenient to leave this matter entirely to the cabinet and the six ministries. He understood Zhu Mincheng's thoughts very well. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui had also considered this when he was granted the title of Grand Prince. The Ming Dynasty's methods of external expansion were different from those of the European countries. In other words, the methods and approaches of the two sides were different, so the choices they made when faced with problems were also different.

Regarding the overseas expansion of European countries, they implemented a colonial expansion strategy, which involved using military force to colonize overseas territories and then appointing governors to manage them. However, this management method was not directly carried out by the royal families and governments of the European countries. In other words, they wanted both control and control. These countries established a so-called "company" within their organizations, such as the East India Company of Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal in the Far East. Royal families and nobles of these countries held shares in this company, and they carried out colonization through commercial means. The so-called governors were not formal government officials, but merely senior managers of the company.

Historically, the subsequent rise of Britain followed the same path. The East India Companies of various countries were notorious for their colonial practices, willing to do anything for profit, even waging wars to carry out massacres and genocide.

As time went on, perhaps due to these reasons, coupled with the East India Company's notorious reputation and its excessive actions, in order to salvage the country's image, the East India Company gradually transformed into a semi-official institution. Later, for example, Britain formally established the position of Colonial Secretary to specifically govern colonies around the world, thus gradually changing its nature.

However, this approach is inherently flawed because colonies are established for commercial purposes. Countries adopt a policy of plunder towards their colonies, increasing domestic income by plundering the colonies' wealth and resources, thereby accelerating national development and strength.

However, this approach led to a severe imbalance in the economy and production of the various colonies, hindering their future development. For example, Mexico's rich silver mines were Spain's most important source of wealth, bringing enormous profits. Southeast Asian spices were also in high demand across Europe, generating similar wealth. Other regions possessed precious gems and valuable metals, or had climates suitable for sugarcane cultivation and sugar production. Focusing on only one aspect resulted in a severe imbalance in both agriculture and mining. While this might bring short-term profits, the consequences were inevitable as these imbalances worsened. This is why the so-called East India Companies of these countries eventually became unsustainable, even incurring huge losses. When conflicts reached a certain point, maintaining the colonies became difficult, ultimately leading to the collapse of colonial policies and the gradual secession and independence of the colonies—an outcome predetermined from the outset.

However, the Ming Dynasty's external expansion was different. Even before that, during the Yongle era, the Ming Dynasty had a policy of external expansion, with Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean being one such means. However, unlike the Western colonial approach, the Ming Dynasty adopted a tributary system of expansion, a relatively mild method. It utilized the Ming Dynasty's immense military and cultural advantages and its own strength to incorporate neighboring countries into the tributary system. Then, it directly appointed the kings of some countries as Pacification Commissioners of the Ming Dynasty and established Pacification Offices to nominally exert influence and manage them.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's methods not only reduced the provocations from the royal families of various countries and maintained their original independence, but also demonstrated the magnanimity of the Ming Dynasty as a great power. Furthermore, through these methods, the Ming Dynasty extended its reach to rule and influence these countries in the name of the suzerain state.

While this method certainly yields less immediate benefit than direct plunder through colonialism, it is not inferior in the long run, and its subsequent impact is much smaller. Furthermore, as the suzerain state, it can avoid local conflicts and its methods are far more flexible. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty scaled back its foreign policy during the later years of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, and after the Tumu Crisis during Emperor Yingzong's reign, it completely abandoned foreign expansion, causing the foundation laid in the past to be wasted.

Even so, although the previously established Pacification Commissions are now merely nominal, the system of tributary states has continued to this day. The attitude of the countries in the South China Sea towards the Ming Dynasty remains the same, and they still nominally recognize the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain state. This is something that Western colonial policies cannot compare to.

As for the New World, Zhu Shenzhui is currently adopting the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. The New World is too far away, and the situation is different from that of the mainland and its surrounding areas. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is not currently capable of substantially occupying, expanding, and ruling the New World on its own. However, if left unattended, the Western European countries will divide up the world at an increasingly faster pace. Under these circumstances, the Ming Dynasty must do something, and adopting a feudal system, namely the system of establishing external fiefdoms, is the most appropriate.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Zhu Shenzhui never regarded either the Song Kingdom or the Yong Kingdom as ordinary fiefdoms for members of the imperial clan. Zhu Shenzhui hoped that Zhu Mincheng and his group could establish a foothold in the New World, develop continuously, and then attract other members of the imperial clan to voluntarily grant fiefdoms, thereby gradually encroaching on the lands of the New World and ultimately forming a group of fiefdoms bound together by the imperial clan, competing with Western countries for ownership of the New World.

This was almost identical to the Zhou Dynasty, but Zhu Shenzhui couldn't say certain things when enfeoffing princes in the outer regions, and some systems couldn't be changed immediately. He could only do it using the original Ming Dynasty's system of enfeoffing princes in the outer regions. But now it seemed the time was ripe. With the rapid development of the Song Dynasty, and Sun Hao's reminder to Zhu Mincheng after arriving in Xinjing, the previous situation of the Song Dynasty was no longer suitable for the future and had to be changed. The best way to change it was to completely change the system from enfeoffing local princes to the system of tributary states in the outer regions, opening up the power of the tributary states in the new continent, and thus truly establishing a nation.

Having made up his mind, Zhu Shenzhui gave the Crown Prince a few instructions, which Zhu Minlan listened to attentively and nodded with a smile.

"Father, rest assured, I will arrange for someone to handle this matter. Just wait and see."

"Don't overdo it!" Zhu Shenzhui reminded him. The officials in the court were not easily fooled. Although he was very confident about this matter, he still had to be careful in doing it. If he went too far, it would be troublesome.

Zhu Minlan confidently assured him that seeing the Crown Prince's confidence, Zhu Shenzhui, who knew the Crown Prince to be steady and reliable, was also relieved. After discussing the matter, Zhu Minlan couldn't help but laugh and say that if this matter really came to fruition, Zhu Mincheng would be making a fortune. As for Yongguo, it would be the same; they would have done nothing but reap the rewards. This huge windfall had fallen from the sky; they were really lucky.

(End of this chapter)