The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 550: First Development of Yinzhou

"I wonder if Lu Demin has lost weight? He didn't mention that in the newspaper. I miss him terribly. I haven't seen him in seven or eight years."

"Your Majesty, you are so considerate of me. I am deeply grateful! I think Lü Jinglie must have lost weight after such a long journey. He is not used to the climate and water. If it were an ordinary person, he would have been seriously injured."

When the fat and strong Lü Jinglü was stranded in eastern Australia, besieged by local indigenous tribes, and trapped in the tropical rainforest, Emperor Wu Ding had decided to give up reinforcing Australia and no longer send any soldiers to Australia.

The reason is very simple. With the current national strength of Da Qi, it is simply unable to support large-scale colonial activities.

Before fully occupying and digesting Southeast Asia, a large-scale landing in Australia would be a cost-effective undertaking.

This can only be done after the technology of steam trains and steam ships matures.

Otherwise, mobilizing the nation's resources to colonize an alien land – whether landing on Australia's east or west coast – would be a fool's errand.

We can only hope that Lu Demin will be lucky and return to Da Qi safely.

Liu Zhaosun knew that the fat man's luck would never be too bad. Fatty Lu had always had good luck. Most of the old people who had defected to Emperor Wuding together back then were now dead for various reasons.

Lao Lu is still alive and living a good life.

Being able to survive one brutal purge after another requires more than just the desire to survive; good luck is the key.

Emperor Wuding thought over and over again, and realized that the four borders of Da Qi were still in a dangerous situation of war.

In the west, the Dashi Emperor Zhang Zicheng was aggressive in Shanxi and might at any time repeat the story of Li Xianzhong and lead the Dashi Army to launch an expedition to the east.
In the south, the small Southern Ming court under the Hongguang Emperor Zhu Changling was basking in the warm breeze of the Qinhuai River. The entire court and the people were living in a drunken stupor, with no fighting spirit at all. They treated Nanjing as Beijing, not to mention the royal army conquering the Central Plains in the north. Ruan Dacheng, Zuo Liangyu and other big men were making a mess for power and profit, and continued their endless party struggles. Liu Zhaosun estimated that if things continued at this pace, the Southern Ming would collapse again before he could send troops south.

Zheng Chenggong in the southeast sea has never cared about Da Qi since he paid a ransom to Emperor Wu Ding two years ago. Just like in history, Koxinga completely ignored his father. He probably hopes that Zheng Chenggong will die in Da Qi as soon as possible to consolidate his position as the number one pirate in the southeast.

Both groups of envoys sent by the retired emperor to Fujian to demand the ransom were killed by Zheng Chenggong.

Not only that, Zheng also actively purchased artillery, built warships, trained sailors, and secretly colluded with the Japanese red-haired barbarians. It was estimated that it would not be long before he would have a decisive battle with the Da Qi navy.

The only thing that made Liu Zhaosun feel relieved was that the Cossacks in the north were basically expelled. Those who did not have time to escape had their left legs chopped off and returned to Siberia to grow potatoes.

Although the Qi army defeated only the advance team of Tsarist Russia - which was not even the regular army of Tsarist Russia - under the iron-blooded hand of the empire, the Cossacks now all turned pale at the mention of "Qi". In the next few years, all kinds of rumors about the Qi army spread in the vast area west of the Ural Mountains. Many people compared Liu Zhaosun and his army to the brutal and cruel Satan Legion, which specialized in devouring human flesh for a living.

Although the empire still has various hidden dangers and the new round of purges has not yet ended, Emperor Wuding has begun to devote his energy to the other side of the ocean, to Yinzhou, the place that countless people around the time traveler had longed for in their previous life.

As far as the time traveler knows, as early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, that is, around the 20th year of the Wanli reign, the Yinzhou continent welcomed the first batch of real colonists. Unlike the previous "geographical discoverers" who could only be viewed from afar and not touched, this group of European colonists who landed in Yinzhou, from the day they arrived, were obsessed with how to slaughter the Indians, seize this "no man's land", and spread the gospel of God to those Indians whose scalps had been cut off.

Regardless of past and present lives, Liu Zhaosun was always a staunch nationalist. However, in his past life, (pseudo)democrats and (pseudo)nationalists were entangled, and under the guidance of some mysterious force, they fought each other to the death. As a result, when people mentioned the word "nationalism", they thought it was derogatory, and their cerebral cortex would unconsciously associate it with elements such as Auschwitz concentration camp or the Iron Cross...

However, now that the great cause has been accomplished (here referring to the establishment of totalitarianism in Da Qi), at least for now, Emperor Wuding's power is unlimited. In other words, as long as he wants, he can do whatever he wants.

Although he knew the empire would most likely end up in an abyss, he still felt a sense of relief when he thought he had more power and a more insane system than most other travelers. He always comforted himself in inexplicable ways; that was what humanity was all about.

Colonists from the Netherlands, Spain, France, Britain and other countries have already enclosed land in Yinzhou and acted arbitrarily on the Indian territory, inserting a crutch or chicken feather at will. This land has become a gift from God to them.

The retired emperor was very dissatisfied with the rude behavior of the European bandits. What he wanted was not equal sharing of benefits and equal opportunities, but for everyone to sit down together, eat hot pot and sing songs, and then divide the big cake of Yinzhou.

Emperor Wuding's request was the request of Great Qi. This request was simple and crude. Now, when the rulers and ministers of Great Qi were discussing the issue of Yinzhou in the northern border of the empire, Liu Zhaosun suddenly said this:

"In heaven, there is only one god, and that is the True Martial God. On earth, there is only one emperor, and that is the Great Qi Emperor. It is me!"

The ministers were silent. Compared with the ambitious emperor, these imperial elites who came from civil service backgrounds were very cautious. No one dared to step forward to dissuade the emperor because it was indeed as the emperor said, he was the Great Qi.

The emperor was so tough, like a huge rock. Even when he was sitting there motionless, he had an indescribable temperament.

"Everyone, I came here this time," Liu Zhaosun finally brought the topic to the point.

The ministers immediately fell silent and looked up at the emperor.

"It is to discuss with you all about forming a Yinzhou development group. The number of people should not be too large, two hundred will be enough. We will go to Yinzhou early to enclose land. All the places marked will belong to Da Qi."

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and immediately a flurry of discussions broke out in the big tent.

"It's not hard to find two hundred soldiers, and we can also gather large ships and food. However, Yinzhou is isolated overseas and is probably a barren land. Why waste time and money to manage it?"

"Since the Red Barbarians have already set foot here, we shouldn't start a conflict with them anymore. We should find some virgin land to explore."

"Wakoku has not been destroyed, Korea has not been pacified, Jiaozhi and Annan still exist. To talk about Yinzhou is really putting the cart before the horse and is laughable to the wise."

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Emperor Wuding turned a deaf ear to all the advice and remonstrations from his ministers.

Despite this, a group of civil servants still seriously described the various problems in running Yinzhou. For a moment, it seemed as if everyone in the government and the country was possessed by Magellan, as if Columbus was reborn and was very familiar with the other side of the ocean.

Liu Zhaosun was too lazy to talk to these people anymore and told them the colonial logic of enclosing land for their own development. As long as they discovered this land, they could say it was theirs, and there would be a reason since ancient times for going to war with Europeans in the future.

Of course, most of the time, Emperor Wuding didn't need any reason to decide who to attack or not to attack.

"I have made up my mind. No need to say more. Do you have any suitable candidates to serve as the leader of the pioneering group? The requirements are not too old and must be loyal to their duties. They cannot be like Qian Sanruo. Only by keeping our original aspirations and remembering our mission can we forge ahead and open up a new world in Yinzhou."

The ministers immediately fell silent.

(End of this chapter)