Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 262 Old Zhu: Let’s go meet Zhu Sun!

As the saying goes, when the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbit is dead, the dogs are cooked.

For these noble families, the biggest fear is that they have lost their usefulness.

Why is he always worried about his family's status?

Isn't it because the world has been united and there is peace and tranquility, so these generals who once fought in all corners of the world no longer have a place to use their skills?
Otherwise, if the court still uses him, what is there to worry about?

Zhu Yunhuan has been vigorously building and training new troops.

However, due to the extremely strict selection process for the new army, only a small number of children of nobles met the requirements and were able to join.

A playboy like his son can't get in at all.

Not to mention being promoted and reused.

Military reform is also being promoted along with it.

Not only is the dual-chief system being promoted in the army, but new generals are also being trained from the Ming Military Academy, the various armies are being gradually strengthened, and disarmament is ongoing.

It also means that the influence of these nobles and former subordinates in the army is gradually declining.

It will gradually fade out of the stage of history as time goes by.

Even the elimination of underworld gangs and the remnants of the White Lotus Sect in the territory was no longer handled by the original military, but by the Anti-Theft Department of the Ministry of Justice.

But now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has changed his mind and wants to re-employ the sons of nobles to lead troops to overseas expeditions?
"No, what does this have to do with you selling your own land?" The Marquis discovered the suspicious point and asked angrily with a frown.

"Dad, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants us to form our own army, and I have to raise money!" The young man recounted in detail what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had said when they were drinking that day.

"Dad, we have to form an army of 500 people ourselves, and we have to buy guns, ammunition, artillery and warships from the court, and we have to pay a deposit. The money we need is not a small amount."

"Although I have some change in my hand, it is far from enough."

"I thought about it carefully. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was encouraging landowners to sell their land to the court, so I sold some of my land."

"Firstly, it is to respond to the call of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and secondly, it is also a good opportunity to raise funds."

Snapped!
As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped hard on the back of his head by the Marquis.

"Selling the land is such a big deal, why didn't you tell your father first?"

The young playboy said in dissatisfaction, "Didn't His Royal Highness ask us to keep it a secret? Besides, His Royal Highness has given us such a big benefit, we should show some appreciation, right? His Royal Highness encourages the nobles to sell their land to the court, so shouldn't we sell some as well?"

Snapped!
He was hit on the back of the head again.

Before the young playboy could express his dissatisfaction, Lord Hou's voice rang out like thunder: "Sell a little? Why would you only sell a little? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has given you such a great benefit, and this is how you repay His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

The young dandy was stunned for a moment, not caring about the pain in the back of his head. He stared at his father and asked, "Dad, what do you mean by this?"

Snapped!
The young dandy was slapped hard on the back of his head by the marquis once again.

"Are you stupid?"

"Why don't you use your brain and think about it carefully?"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has said that he will grant our family land overseas, give us the opportunity to make money and be awarded a title based on our merits. Are you still going to guard this little piece of land at home?"

"Don't you see what His Royal Highness is trying to do?"

"This means that we have to hand over the land within the Ming Dynasty in exchange for overseas territories."

"You still keep those fields. Aren't you making things difficult for His Royal Highness?"

"If you want to sell land, you can't just sell some of it, you have to sell all of it, understand?"

The young dandy was stunned.

Just now, my father was blaming me for selling the family property, but how come he suddenly started blaming me for not selling enough land?

The old lady and the wife next to them also looked confused.

The lady wiped away her tears and asked worriedly, "Isn't it too dangerous to go out to sea? Can we not go?"

"What do you know!" The Marquis cursed angrily, "Woman, you have long hair but little knowledge, go away."

"How did our family become a marquis? By fighting on the battlefield!"

"Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince allows us to continue to go overseas, and also gives us fiefdoms, private soldiers, and weapons. These are good conditions, something we can't even dream of. How can we not go?"

"Go, you must go!"

Lord Hou's voice was firm and resolute.

The young dandy asked weakly, "Dad, don't you blame me for selling our family's land?"

"Strange!" The Marquis slapped his head hard again and shouted, "Didn't I tell you just now? How could you only sell a little bit of land?"

"A real man should act with courage."

"If you are timid, what great things can you accomplish?"

"How did your family get the land? Didn't I, your father, win it by following His Majesty in the battle for the throne?"

"As long as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cares for us, why should we worry that we will not have land in the future?"

"Don't think that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only gave us 500 mercenaries. You have to know that the new troops were raised with a lot of money."

"Five hundred men, equipped with the latest warships, carrying enough guns, artillery and ammunition, the money required is definitely not a small amount."

"It's not certain that we can raise the money unless we sell all the land at home."

The young playboy whispered, "It doesn't necessarily require that much money, does it? We can prepare some first. Anyway, the court hasn't officially opened up yet. If it's really not enough by then, it won't be too late to sell the land."

Snapped!
He received another slap on the back of his head.

"His Royal Highness was drunk, and what he said in front of all of you, could it be false?" The Marquis scolded, "Do you have a brain?"

"Didn't you say that His Royal Highness also said that the qualifications for forming a mercenary army must be reviewed by the court?"

“There must be a lot of people grabbing it!”

"If you don't prepare enough money first, and when the time comes, you don't have enough money, then do you still want the qualifications to organize mercenaries?"

"Besides, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has given us such a great benefit by allowing us to form an army, shouldn't we show our loyalty?"

"Selling all the land in my family is a way to show my loyalty and determination to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Our family has no land in Ming Dynasty, so His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cannot refuse us to go overseas and find a territory!"

"When the time comes, the application to form a mercenary group will definitely be approved."

The young dandy suddenly realized what was going on and slapped himself on the back of his head, saying, "Dad is really thoughtful. Why didn't I think of that?"

The Marquis snorted coldly and said, "You are a petty person, you can't accomplish anything. To do big things, you need courage. Do you understand?"

"Why are you still standing here? Go sell the land!"

The young dandy responded repeatedly and ran out quickly.

……

The same scenes took place in various noble residences in Jinling City.

And these nobles almost made the same choice without any prior agreement.

He sold his own land to raise funds to form a mercenary group.

Even if the family had enough money, the land would still be sold.

Their logic is very simple, which is to show that they have no industry in Ming Dynasty.

Don’t we have to give overseas industries to our own families? As for whether overseas is a fertile land and whether there are really huge profits, no one doubts it now.

After all, these were the heartfelt words spoken by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to a group of noble sons after drinking.

Could His Royal Highness the Crown Prince deliberately trick them?
If it were announced in the court, most of the nobles would not take it seriously, or even be unwilling to respond at all.

But if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince speaks the truth after drinking and leaks secrets, it will definitely bring huge benefits to his family!
Not to mention, anyone who could drink at the residence of Founding Duke Chang Sheng was someone who had a close relationship with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

There is absolutely no reason for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to betray his own people.

Moreover, even the founding duke Chang Sheng, the Crown Prince's uncle, also sold all the land of the Chang family.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not betray his own uncle, right?

With these "analyses", the nobles were completely relieved.

The less the court announced the specific details, the more they felt that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's care for them that led to the news being revealed early so that they could prepare early.

Of course, we cannot let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince down!
Seeing the nobles selling their land one after another, other wealthy businessmen in Jinling City could no longer sit still.

What exactly happened at the court?

Why would nobles and high-ranking officials sell their land to the imperial court?
Just because of a rent reduction ordinance?
Is there some unknown reason behind it?
The wealthy businessmen immediately went out in all directions, trying their best to gather intelligence.

Soon, the news that the imperial court would allow mercenaries and encourage princes and nobles to go to sea spread among the wealthy merchants in Jinling City.

These wealthy businessmen also keenly saw the business opportunities therein.

When the princes and nobles of the court went to sea to seize territory and wealth, what logistical support did they need? What about the overseas trade that was brought about?

They cannot form mercenary groups on their own, but the nobles' groups are limited to 500 people, a number that obviously only meets combat requirements.

More transport ships are needed to help transport logistical supplies, spoils of war, and trade with Ming.

This is definitely a huge business opportunity.

To do such a business means buying a ship and going out to sea.

If the nobles want to buy warships, they have to buy merchant ships and transport ships.

The cost of building a seagoing vessel is not low.

More importantly, the shipyards that are qualified and capable of building large naval ships are all owned by the imperial court. One has to place orders early to get a ship.

As a result, wealthy businessmen also began to raise funds and order ships.

At the same time, the descriptions of overseas in the Ming Daily became more and more specific and detailed.

According to the newspapers, overseas is a rich "golden land".

Merchants from the Ming Dynasty could gain countless wealth by simply going overseas.

Stories about Fujianese people going overseas to "start businesses" and getting rich have appeared in newspapers one after another.

There are names, times, places, and people involved, and you can even find real people to verify it on site.

He really started a business overseas, made a lot of money, and returned home in glory.

However, the hardships experienced were cleverly hidden.

Naturally, we will not publicize the people and events that were eaten by fish or died at the hands of overseas indigenous people.

The guiding nature of public opinion propaganda was fully demonstrated at this time.

But in the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty, especially the nobles and wealthy businessmen, the idea that there were "gold mines" overseas gradually took root in people's minds.

At the same time, the newspapers also told them that overseas was a barbaric land that had not been taught by saints, and that the scholars of the Ming Dynasty had an obligation to educate them.

Just like a saint educating the world.

Whoever can educate the barbarians overseas will have made great achievements.

Confucianism talks about "establishing virtue, establishing words and achieving meritorious deeds are the three immortalities". Going overseas to spread the teachings of saints, teaching the people in wild lands to accept Confucian ethics and let them all understand the saints' teachings, is to combine the three immortalities in one person.

This is moral argument and propaganda.

Let everyone not bear the "guilt" of going overseas to plunder.

Regarding these two points, Zhu Yunhuan actually copied the propaganda of the Western Age of Discovery.

At the beginning, that group of people in the West also used the slogan of "missionary work" and established the belief of traveling to all parts of the world based on morality.

There is gold in the East and there is gold overseas. These are the practical benefits that everyone was scrambling to spread during the Western Age of Exploration.

With the "moral advantage" psychologically and the temptation of "practical benefits", with these two approaches working together, why should we worry that people will not yearn to go overseas?
With the support of the Ming Daily, Zhu Yunhuan's propaganda efforts were extremely terrifying.

The news of the mercenary group's departure to sea was spread through private channels.

After learning that the nobles were scrambling to sell land to raise money, Zhu Yunhuan ordered the Intelligence Department to secretly increase propaganda.

Add fuel to the flames.

So, the wealthy businessmen in the capital followed first.

Soon, the wealthy and powerful people in the nobles' hometowns also followed suit.

Later, under the strong promotion of Zhu Yunhuan, there was a trend of selling land to raise money to buy ships in preparation for going overseas.

Seizing this window of time, the world map was officially published by the journal Science at his instruction.

For the first time, the nobles, wealthy merchants and common people of the Ming Dynasty learned that there was such a vast land overseas.

Published along with the map are introductions to local customs, people, and supplies.

Of course, these are Zhu Yunhuan's vague memories.

I can only tell you the general situation. The specific details will have to wait for you to explore on your own after going out to sea.

But that's enough.

There is ample room for imagination, allowing everyone to have beautiful expectations.

Some nobles have already started dividing up their territories in private...

The matter of going to sea had already become extremely popular before the court officially announced it.

A large amount of land was sold to the imperial court to raise funds for going to sea.

The wealthy people who wanted to order ships simply bought out several major shipyards in the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Manufacturing Bureau had to urgently build a new shipyard.

Going to sea has become what people desire and what everyone hopes for.

Everyone is making preparations, waiting for the day when the court will officially announce it.

……

At this time, Lao Zhu was on his way back to Jinling City.

The carriage rolled forward.

Inside the car, Lao Zhu opened the curtains and looked outside: "Time flies. It's been several months since we left Jinling."

"After we return, don't rush back to the palace. Let's go to the location of the Science journal. We want to meet that Zhu Sun."

……

(End of this chapter)