The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 140: The Duke of Min’s Little Plan

Zheng Ruian, the prince of the Duke of Min, followed the orders of his father Zheng Haikang and went to the dock to welcome the fleet of envoys from the King of Wu.

After Zheng Ruian picked up Cao Zhendong and Fei Chun, he accompanied the two of them to the Duke's Mansion in his father's carriage.

Duke of Min Zheng Haikang and his subordinates greeted them outside the gate of the Duke's Mansion.

The Duke of Min was the monarch of one of the most powerful vassal states in the Ming Dynasty, and this arrangement could be said to be a grand gesture.

Fei Chun and Cao Zhendong did not dare to be arrogant. They complimented him politely and then followed Zheng Haikang into the living room of the Duke's Mansion.

The two sides sat down as host and guest, and after greeting each other, Fei Chun took out the letter from the King of Wu to the Duke of Min.

Duke of Min Zheng Haikang took the book in both hands and carefully opened it to read.

In Zhu Jianxuan's letter, he expressed the hope that Zheng Haikang would help him to establish connections and recruit Japanese ronin to fight at sea.

The goal was also made clear to Zheng Haikang, which was to control the entrance and exit of the Red Sea, and then control the Sinai Peninsula, and cooperate with the Ottoman Empire to build a canal.

If the Ottoman Empire did not cooperate, they would encourage the local feudal lords in Egypt to declare independence, and then cooperate with Egypt to build the canal.

The initial plan is to recruit 20,000 to 30,000 warriors first. If these warriors are useful, more will be recruited later.

After reading it, Zheng Haikang was somewhat surprised and at the same time very conflicted.

Zheng Haikang himself was doing something similar, taking advantage of the famine raging in Japan to recruit ronin to serve as his thugs.

Zheng Haikang knew better than anyone how useful Japan's impoverished samurai were.

These people were impoverished nobles, most of whom were literate and had basic martial arts skills.

His status as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty also made them follow him.

The scale of Zheng Haikang's recruitment of Japanese ronin was also not small, because the Zheng family had also been secretly planning in recent years and conducting overseas explorations behind the back of the court.

There were nominally hundreds of thousands of Japanese samurai, but most of them would not go abroad in order to survive.

It would be great if there could be tens of thousands of the most impoverished samurai who could be contacted through his connections in Japan and who were willing to go to sea.

The King of Wu is trying to steal business from me.

However, the Red Sea-Mediterranean Canal planned by the King of Wu obviously also contains huge business opportunities.

If he could succeed, he could just sit back and make money, and Zheng Haikang didn't want to miss it.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Zheng Haikang decided to test the determination of His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

If His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu is determined and willing to offer more conditions, then I will help him more.

If the King of Wu doesn't want to pay a sufficient price, then I'll just do it for the sake of my own intention:
“To be honest with you two, I am very interested in His Royal Highness King Wu’s canal plan.

“The Zheng family does have some connections in Japan, but their dealings are basically purely business.

"At the same time, the Tokugawa Shogun of Japan issued several orders prohibiting Japanese people from sailing and prohibiting Japanese people who had already gone to sea from returning.

“All foreign merchant ships are inspected when they leave Japan.

“When the Japanese left on foreign merchant ships, they also had to consider the possibility of never being able to return.

“So it was very difficult to recruit samurai from Japan.

“In fact, if we want to deal with Oman and the Ottoman Empire, we don’t necessarily need to recruit Japanese samurai, right?

"We, the people of the Ming Dynasty, can do the same."

In the Ming Dynasty and its surrounding areas, even if the princes became vassal kings or kings, they would usually continue to be addressed as "Your Highness" rather than "Your Majesty", a title that was used for independent kings.

Zheng Haikang's answer said that it was very troublesome, not that there was no solution at all. It was obvious that he wanted to improve his own value.

Of course Fei Chun could hear the meaning behind Zheng Haikang's words.

According to Zhu Jianxuan's original plan, he did not intend to engage in direct conflict with the Tokugawa shogunate, but simply recruited personnel through civilian means.

The connections that Duke of Min Zheng Haikang has in Japan are indeed very important.

But now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has decided to give his full support and allow the two military governorates to fight directly against Japan, so the usefulness of Zheng Haikang has been greatly reduced.

Fei Chun used a relatively polite statement to put Zheng Haikang in the right position:

“Don’t worry, Duke. His Majesty has already issued an order requiring the navy of the Front Army Governor’s Office and the Right Army Governor’s Office to cooperate with His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

“Allow the navy and army to engage the shogunate’s army, forcing it to allow the Japanese to go to sea with the Ming.

“Your Majesty also hopes that the Duke of Min can cooperate and use his existing connections in Japan to introduce agents to recruit personnel for His Majesty the King of Wu.

"The Duke of Min does not need to participate in the war directly, so there should be no risk."

What Fei Chun meant was that you can only be an intermediary at best and you don’t have to put in any special effort, but don’t expect to get too much.

After Fei Chun finished speaking, he stood up, took out the emperor's two imperial edicts, and together with Cao Zhendong, carefully unfolded them and showed them to Zheng Haikang, the Duke of Min.

In these two imperial edicts, one mentioned two military governors' offices, and the other mentioned the Duke of Min, but the imperial edicts themselves were addressed to Zhu Jianxuan. The two imperial edicts were tokens from the emperor to Zhu Jianxuan, used to command and request the people mentioned in the imperial edicts.

I only give it to other people to take a look at, and at most to check its authenticity.

Zheng Haikang was stunned when he saw the two imperial edicts. Deep down, he couldn't help but want to yell, "His Royal Highness the King of Wu is too kind to me!"

At the same time, he also fully understood Fei Chun's meaning. The emperor was directly intervening in this matter, so he didn't need to put in much effort, and of course he wouldn't get too much benefit from it.

Whatever you want to get from this action, you must obtain it through actual participation and contribution.

At the same time, the emperor intervened directly and the Ming Dynasty navy directly participated in the war, which also increased the success rate of King Wu's plan.

This made Zheng Haikang even more unable to give up the idea of ​​participating.

The overseas exploration of the Duke of Min's Mansion has only found a place to reclaim land and cultivate crops, which is far from the business opportunities of the Red Sea-Mediterranean Canal.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Zheng Haikang tentatively expressed his inner yearning:

"I am willing to help His Majesty and His Royal Highness the King of Wu, and I also hope to be able to directly participate in this operation, and I only hope to get a share of the canal's dividends."

Fei Chun said very simply:

“Since Your Majesty has arranged for the Governor-General’s Navy to participate, then they must get the biggest share.

“As for whether others can invest and receive dividends, only Your Highness can decide.

"The Duke of Min can arrange for an envoy to go with me to meet His Royal Highness the King of Wu."

Due to the additional decision and support of the Ming Emperor, Zhu Jianxuan's battle plan must be revised.

The promises and conditions given to other participating vassal states must also be modified accordingly.

So I can't make any promises to Zheng Haikang now.

We can only invite him to arrange someone to negotiate directly with His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

Zheng Haikang immediately said after hearing this:

"Once I receive the imperial edict, I will immediately arrange for someone to go to Australia to consult His Royal Highness the King of Wu..."

Zheng Haikang was a little anxious. After looking around, he looked directly at his eldest son Zheng Ruian:

"Rui An, as the envoy of the Min Kingdom, you will go to Australia in person to meet His Royal Highness the King of Wu and discuss cooperation matters."

Letting the prince be the representative directly is to show sincerity and importance.

Zheng Ruian was visibly stunned when he heard the order.

If Zheng Ruian were asked to go on a business trip somewhere else, this Duke's son would definitely not be happy to go.

But going to meet His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu would be exactly what Zheng Ruian wanted.

Zheng Ruian wanted to understand His Royal Highness the King of Wu and wanted to know his true attitude towards the Northern Expedition and the reduction of the power of the princes.

Now is the perfect opportunity to go over and ask directly.

So after Zheng Ruian was stunned for a few seconds, he agreed decisively:

"My child obeys."

At this point, there is no need to continue.

Zheng Haikang continued to chat with Fei Chun and Cao Zhendong for a while, and then began to prepare for the banquet.

After both the host and the guests had a great time, Fei Chun and Cao Zhendong were sent to the guest room to rest.

Zheng Haikang called his son to his side and carefully told him what to do when he arrived in Wu State.

Be as respectful and polite as possible to leave a good impression on His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

By the way, the conditions and requirements of the Duke of Min's Mansion were explained:
“We can send at most one hundred merchant ships and warships, and at most thirty thousand soldiers to fight in the Red Sea.

"Our goal is to get at least 10% of the canal's shares and dividend rights."

The Zheng family of the Duke of Min came from a maritime merchant family and was not a traditional scholar-official family.

During the continuous development of industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty, the Zheng family encountered few obstacles and was transformed into a new aristocracy.

The Ming Dynasty court could be considered a new aristocracy, and discussions between the Ming Dynasty court and vassal officials like the Duke of Min about foreign warfare were like collaborating in business.

How much cost I can put in, including how many warships and soldiers, and how much dividend I want to get.

If the two sides reach an agreement, they will cooperate; if they fail, then forget it.

Zheng Ruian agreed obediently on the surface, but he was not thinking about the business at all.

(End of this chapter)