The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 40: The Ownership of Maritime Hegemony in the Indian Ocean
After the prince left Prince Wu's laboratory, he immediately rushed to the Qianqing Palace again and explained Zhu Jianxuan's intentions to the emperor.

After listening to this, the emperor looked at the prince and said:
"This kid is too troublesome, so you just listen to him? Go call him over, I want to talk to him."

The prince had no choice but to return to Prince Wu’s laboratory and find Zhu Jianxuan again.

The prince did not follow Zhu Jianxuan into the house to sit down, but told him the matter directly at the door:
"Brother Xuan, the emperor called you over. He might want to talk about the affairs of the Wu court. The emperor doesn't seem to be in a good mood."

After hearing this, Zhu Jianxuan felt even more helpless and could only get on the prince's carriage and go to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor.

After the two brothers saluted, Emperor Zhu Zhonglin sat up straight and looked at Zhu Jianxuan:
"Why don't you want to form a Wu court? Why don't you want a civilian immigration group?"

After spending several years together, the emperor no longer considered Zhu Jianxuan a child in his subconscious.

I have become accustomed to talking to Zhu Jianxuan in the way I talk to adults.

Zhu Jianxuan bowed respectfully:

"I just think it's too troublesome and totally unnecessary.

"Firstly, most of Wu State is covered with barren mountains and wilderness, and the key is that there are only so many people in total, so it is enough to directly manage them with the guard system.

“Whether it is to establish a royal court or recruit civilian immigrants, it is a waste of resources and manpower.

"The civilian immigrant groups mainly reclaimed wasteland for farming, but the land in Australia is really barren and not suitable for long-term farming.

"If the immigrants want to grow crops, they can only burn the land, and they have to change the place to burn the land every few years, just like some rainforest areas in Southeast Asia.

“The key is that the soil is poor and forests cannot grow on the land they abandoned.

"I don't want to destroy the few forests in Australia and make the climate in Australia even worse.

“The development of the palace guards is planned and generally controllable, but the development of the civilian immigrant groups is uncontrollable.

"Secondly, Australia is now exclusively owned by the Ming Dynasty. There is no competitor to compete with us, so there is no need to send too many immigrants to occupy the territory.

"With a total of several hundred thousand guards spread out in key locations along the coast, we can effectively monopolize the entire continent.

“It is better to send immigrants to Ceylon, Africa or America than to Australia.

“Most of the land here has a nominal owner, but most of it is wilderness.

“We only need to send a certain number of immigrants to cultivate what is now a wilderness, and then we can make it clear through a treaty after the next war.

"If we send people to these places to open up wasteland, there is no need to form a Wu court. We can just let the Ming court govern them."

The emperor turned to look at the prince.
"Boss, what do you think?"

The prince now does not want to be involved in the establishment of the Wu court anymore, and at the same time he really thinks that Zhu Jianxuan’s idea is reasonable.

Australia is a very isolated continent. The Ming Dynasty can control it by placing a few garrisons in good places on the edge.

Other European countries had no chance to come and seize territory.

It is indeed better to send civilian immigrants directly to Africa and America than to recruit them in Australia.

"I think what Brother Xuan said makes sense."

The emperor frowned and thought for a few seconds:

“Since you think it makes sense, then go and make a detailed implementation plan.

“How to take Ceylon from the Dutch and command of the western Indian Ocean from the Omanis.

“You can consider how to use the steam sailing ship invented by your brother to quickly control the island of Ceylon and the land on the east coast of Africa with immigrants.

“Think about it yourself, don’t discuss it with anyone to avoid leaking the news, we can’t break up with Aman right away.

"As for the immigration of Wu, we will proceed according to your original plan and use the organization of the Guard Corps."

The prince's expression froze.

I don’t know if I was cheated or not, or even if it was my brother or my father who cheated me.

This is another big job for me.

At this time, the eastern part of the Indian Ocean was of course under the control of the Ming people.

However, the maritime overlord of the western Indian Ocean was not the Europeans or the Ming Dynasty people, but the Omanis from the Arabian Peninsula.

The Omanis seized colonies in East Africa from the Portuguese and controlled the trade routes in the region.

During its heyday, the Omani Empire's territory stretched from the Arabian Peninsula to Madagascar, and controlled the entire east coast of Africa.

The Omani Empire in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life was relatively strong for more than two hundred years. It was not until the Europeans popularized steam-powered steel warships that they destroyed Oman's hegemony in the Indian Ocean during the frenzy of dividing Africa in the late 19th century.

Although the Ming Emperor was unaware of this history, he had already realized the huge potential of steam sailing ships.

In the past, the navy only had ordinary sailing ships, and it was very difficult to fight in other countries’ homelands.

Even if the opponent's weapons and training level are not as good as yours, it is difficult for you to cross the ocean and forcibly suppress the opponent.

It gives people a feeling of powerlessness.

Now that we have a steam sailing ship, we can try it again.

If Oman was defeated at sea, the power of the Ming Dynasty could gradually extend to Africa.

At the same time, considering the independence of the United States, the Ming army may have to fight on the east coast of America in the future.

The Ming Dynasty's immigration ships often passed through the east coast of Africa, passed South Africa and entered the Atlantic Ocean, so the safety of this route had to be ensured.

It would be best to have our own bases in southern India or Ceylon, as well as in eastern and southern Africa, to provide supplies to passing fleets.

Therefore, the emperor believed that the next stage of development of the Ming Dynasty would be Africa.

Of course, Ceylon in the middle of the Indian Ocean had to be seized as the Dutch no longer had the ability to maintain these colonies.

Even if the Ming Dynasty did not take action, it would probably have been taken away by the British sooner or later.

The prince felt helpless and uneasy, and he didn't know what the emperor was planning, but on the surface he could only obediently take on the task.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty waved his hand gently and asked the prince to go back to work.

After the prince had walked away, the emperor said to Zhu Jianxuan beside him:

"The Western Factory sent a message a while ago that your future subjects won a large-scale victory.

“Through the siege, they defeated nearly 10,000 British troops, and finally captured more than 5,000 prisoners.

“This basically meets the compromise conditions we originally drafted, which is to achieve a major victory.

“The Americans will probably go to the French first, and whether France decides to join the war immediately or not, they will probably come back to us later.

“According to the intelligence reorganized by the Western Factory in the past two years, France has been accumulating strength since the end of the Seven Years’ War.

“I also learned a little bit about the history of Britain and France, and I underestimated the hatred of the French towards the British.

"In the past ten years or so, the French have built forty battleships in succession, doubling the total number to eighty.

"That's double the number we had at the end of the Seven Years' War, plus an additional eighty secondary warships.

“They also established five naval bases in succession on the mainland.

"Apart from the British, which other country needs the French to expand their navy like crazy?

“Their infantry also increased from 90,000 to 160,000, and their artillery increased from more than 20,000 to nearly 50,000.

"After the civil uprising broke out in the United States, the French began to increase military spending recklessly, and last year it increased by one third.

“The French’s main enemy in Europe is the British, and they will not miss the opportunity to weaken Britain through America.

“The French are preparing for war very seriously.

"With the Ming and the French joining the war, America's independence is basically set in stone.

“Most of what you predicted five years ago is coming true.

"Considering the current special situation in the United States, it is indeed better to invite nobles from Europe to be king than to come to the Ming Dynasty. The key is that there is still the support and deterrence of the Ming Dynasty.

"You have a good chance of becoming the king of the United States, at least in name only.

“So now we can start thinking seriously about how to design the U.S. national government structure.

"There are now more than two million Europeans in America, more than 600,000 Kunlun slaves, and an uncountable number of indigenous people.

"More Europeans and Kunlun slaves will enter America in the future.

“Once you really become the king of the United States, there will definitely be a large number of Ming people immigrating to America to open up new land in the future.

"The composition of this country is more complicated than ever before. You have to deal with it even if you find it troublesome."

Zhu Jianxuan knew this matter without his father's reminder, and he even knew it better than his father:
"My son understands."

(End of this chapter)