My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 198 Another Fire
After a while, the fleet finally managed to dock, and the decks of each ship were filled with soldiers from the Musket Battalion.

They stood upright on the deck, carrying needle-guns on their backs. Their armor gleamed in the sunlight, making the soldiers look even more majestic and powerful.

Looking at the soldiers on the ship, the people cheered warmly. For a moment, the noise was deafening and the enthusiastic cheers almost broke the dome!
Xu Huizu stood on the boat, looking at the boiling crowd below, and his mood could not help but become excited.

The cheers and joy from their fellow countrymen are the greatest affirmation to them and an incomparable honor!

After drifting on the sea for quite some time, he had truly experienced many storms, which made his character more resolute.

Although it was Xu Da who arranged for him to join the fleet, he understood what his father meant, which was to protect his investment.

Well, he learned the word investment from His Majesty.

However, as a captain of the Musket Battalion, he also wanted to go to the sea with his soldiers to see the outside world.

The sea is completely different from the desert. It may be calm and peaceful at one moment, and turbulent the next.

Only a man who has conquered the sea can truly grow up.

This time, the voyage was a fruitful one, and many unexpected things happened along the way. He was eager to brag to Zhu Laosi and share what he had seen and learned.

Maybe, next time I can grab Zhu Laosi and let him experience the grandeur of the sea.

When the fleet docked steadily at the shore, Xu Huizu directed everyone to move the ship's load of gold and silver cargo off, and the imperial court had already sent troops to greet them at the dock.

On the Ming Dynasty's first voyage, four 5,000-ton steamships and six 3,000-ton steamships were sent out, and three of the 5,000-ton ships were fully loaded with sugar for trade.

Before setting off, although everyone was very confident in the white sugar produced in the Ming Dynasty, they were still nervous as it was their first voyage, wondering whether the foreign countries would like it as much as the Ming Dynasty did.

However, after arriving at the first stop, Ryukyu, the situation was beyond everyone's expectations. When the sailors unloaded the first batch of ten tons of sugar, it was snatched away by Ryukyu nobles and wealthy businessmen in less than half a day!

For a time, the entire Ryukyu Islands went crazy, scrambling to buy Ming Dynasty white sugar. This snow-white and crystal clear sugar, coupled with its sweetness, instantly became a product that was sought after by everyone from royal aristocrats to wealthy businessmen and landlords.

Ryukyu alone bought more than a thousand tons of sugar, making the Ming Dynasty's first voyage a lucrative one.

If the fleet was not tasked with exploring shipping routes and investigating Temasek in addition to its mission of maritime trade, Xu Huizu even thought that the fleet could return after reaching Ryukyu.

Moreover, Ryukyu placed an order for 2,000 tons of sugar, which made all members of the fleet full of confidence in maritime trade.

During the subsequent voyage to the West, sugar instantly became a best-seller wherever the ship went, and the spies on the ship also marked all the places where sugarcane was produced in abundance and drew detailed maps.

We also conducted a detailed investigation into the local ethnic composition, living customs, ruling structure, social contradictions and troop deployment.

These are all preparations for the future intervention of Ming Dynasty forces.

All the sugar was sold out during the voyage, and the Ming Dynasty was also rewarded with a large amount of gold, silver, treasures and local precious items.

When watching the Ming army unloading boxes of gold, silver and treasures from the ship, Sugawara Tadatsugu and Sasaki Michio were almost stunned, and Ono Hideyo was even more shocked. The gold and silver that filled several ships were the profits gained from the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade, which made people envious and jealous to the point of madness!

In addition to the treasures, there are also countless rare and precious items that have never been seen before, which make people's eyes red.

Ono Hideyo once again made up his mind in his heart that no matter how harsh the conditions proposed by the Ming Dynasty were, he must trade with the Ming Dynasty!

Not only the Japanese, but also the common people who were welcoming at the dock were amazed by the sight of pepper, agarwood, sandalwood, etc., as well as various exotic gems, which were really dazzling!

Especially when they saw the pepper piled up like a small mountain, the people were staring with their eyes wide open.

Although pepper was introduced to China as early as the Jin Dynasty, it has always been extremely precious due to its extreme scarcity, even rarer than frosting sugar. Generally speaking, only the aristocratic families could use it.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it was not until the seventh year of Hongwu that pepper entered the Ming Dynasty through tribute from various foreign states. The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue once counted that the cumulative amount of pepper tributed by various foreign states was only a few hundred thousand kilograms, which was really pitifully small.

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, only the powerful or wealthy businessmen could use pepper, while ordinary people had only heard of it but never seen it.

Now that they saw that so much pepper was brought back from just a single trade trip overseas, how could everyone not celebrate?

The Japanese envoys were completely dumbfounded. Pepper was a rare commodity in the Ming Dynasty, but in Japan, it was something legendary.

If there were still some people in the Ming Dynasty who could afford pepper, in Japan, except for the royal family and the shogun, very few people had ever seen pepper.

There is even a saying in the Kansai region that goes, "Pepper is as precious as a treasure, it has to travel across the ocean to get its flavor, and a single pepper is worth a thousand pieces of gold."

If the countless gold, silver, gems and other rare items only made the Japanese envoys jealous and envious, then when they saw the mountains of pepper, their greed was infinitely magnified.

The value of these peppers, if placed in the Japanese archipelago, would be enough to drive countless people crazy and set off a huge bloody storm!

Cui Wenyuan saw all the looks on the Japanese' faces. He smiled, but he knew very well in his mind that if he added more fuel to the fire, these Japanese would have to surrender.

The welcoming ceremony at the dock continued into the afternoon. At this time, the eunuch in charge of announcing imperial decrees from the palace came to the dock, found Cui Wenyuan and others, and announced the emperor's order.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Cui Wenyuan to lead the Japanese envoys to the imperial palace immediately. After Cui Wenyuan received the order, he knew clearly in his heart that this was His Majesty's plan to cooperate with the fleet's triumphant return, and thus the second fire was started.

However, Japanese envoys such as Sugawara Tadatsugu and Sasaki Michio felt mixed emotions, and even a little annoyed.

The good news is that after so many years in Ming Dynasty, I can finally enter the palace. The bad news is that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty has not said that he wants to meet with the Japanese envoys.

What is frustrating is why His Majesty the Emperor would summon envoys from the opposite dynasty into the palace at the same time. What qualifications do those guys from the Northern/Southern Dynasties have to be with him? Are they worthy?

Following Cui Wenyuan, the group arrived at the imperial palace. However, the eunuch leading the way did not take them to the Fengtian Hall, which made Sugawara Tadatsugu and others very disappointed.

However, the eunuch led them to the Huagai Hall where a banquet was being held for all the ministers. This made the envoys excited again. Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor was going to host a banquet for them?
After entering the Huagai Palace, the scene before their eyes made the envoys from the Northern and Southern Dynasties almost pop their eyes out!

The carefully placed items in the Huagai Palace are enough to drive them crazy!
(End of this chapter)