Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 208: Is this about brotherly love and respect? Spain wants to destroy the Ming Dynasty! [Please subscribe]

"What do you think of the third brother's suggestion?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked after everyone thought for a while.

Some princes who were not good at military affairs or had little interest in military affairs, such as Zhu Chun and Zhu Bo, felt that the requirements for accumulating merits to become a commander were a bit high, but no one dared to step forward for a while.

Just as they were hesitating, Zhu Di said, "Father, I think my third brother's suggestion is generally feasible. However, it is a little inappropriate to allow the royal family members to join the army directly as a thousand-household officer."

Zhu Ying glared at Zhu Di in dissatisfaction, thinking: Is the fourth brother trying to deceive me? Okay, you wait.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Why is it inappropriate?"

Zhu Di said, "Warfare is dangerous. Even though the royal family members received some military training and learned some military tactics before joining the army, they are still novices after all."

"A Qian Hu is at least the commander of a thousand men. To allow a royal family member to start directly from a Qian Hu is child's play. It is not only irresponsible to the soldiers, but also to their own lives."

"Therefore, I think it would be best to have him start as a deputy commander, first serving as a commander's deputy commander, to understand the army and accumulate sufficient experience in leading troops before he can be promoted to commander."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "That does make sense—does anyone else have any suggestions?"

Zhu Chun, Zhu Bo and others thought: Since you have said it makes sense, who would dare to object?

There are still people who dare to do it.

Zhu Tan then said, "Father, it's not easy to rise from a Thousand Household to a Commander-in-Chief through meritorious service. If we follow what Fourth Brother said and start from a Deputy Thousand Household, it will be even harder."

"Also, our Ming Dynasty cannot always have so many wars. When wars become rare in the future, it will be extremely difficult for the royal family to qualify for overseas vassalage."

Following Zhu Tan's lead, teenage princes such as Zhu Chun and Zhu Bai immediately voiced their support.

"Father, Tenth Brother is right. Military merit is not so easy to obtain. If the requirements are too high, I am afraid that no one will be able to be granted an overseas vassal in the future!"

"Fourth Brother is relying on his age, having already joined the army, and even having military merits, to deliberately raise the standards for overseas fiefdoms to hinder those of us who are younger!"

"···"

Zhu Di was quite surprised to see Zhu Chun, Zhu Bai, Zhu Zi, and even Zhu Gui and Zhu Jian all voicing their opposition.

When he was still studying at the Great Hall, these younger brothers were all following him around.

He never expected that his younger brothers would be so thoughtful and brave, and would dare to oppose his suggestions even with the approval of their father.

However, it is also true that his proposal raised the standards for establishing vassal states overseas - but he really had no intention of stopping his younger brothers from establishing vassal states overseas.

Zhu Di wanted to explain, but found that he couldn't, so he could only smile bitterly.

Zhu Yuanzhang was quite happy to see that younger princes such as Zhu Tan raised objections.

He wanted to ask Liu Kuan's opinion first, but when he turned his head, he saw Liu Kuan "looking at his nose, looking at his mouth", with an indifferent look. He then looked at Zhu Biao, "Biao'er, what do you think?"

Zhu Biao paused for a moment and said, "I believe that Fourth Brother is not trying to stop others from becoming vassals overseas, but is genuinely concerned about the royal family and the soldiers."

"As for what Tenth Brother and the others said just now, that there may be fewer wars in the future of the Ming Dynasty and it will be difficult to achieve military merit, it is certainly true."

"But we must also realize that although overseas is vast, it is not boundless, and the places suitable for establishing vassal states are even more limited."

"If the qualifications for establishing a vassal state overseas were not so difficult to obtain, what would happen if, a hundred years later, it became difficult to find places to establish a vassal state overseas, but vassal kings who met the requirements for establishing a vassal state emerged one after another within the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Chun, Zhu Bai and others frowned in thought.

Zhu Tan raised his eyebrows and said, "Brother, you're thinking too far ahead for your own lineage. If there are no more places to establish vassal states overseas a hundred years from now, then the policy of establishing vassal states overseas should be abolished. Why would you make it more difficult for our generation to establish vassal states overseas?"

Hearing this, Liu Kuan looked at Zhu Tan in surprise and thought: Prince Lu's words are quite sharp today. He even dares to satirize Zhu Biao. He is really brave.

However, if he could establish a vassal state overseas, he would not have to be too afraid of Zhu Biao.

Although Zhu Biao was also surprised by Zhu Tan's words, he was not angry.

In his eyes, Zhu Tan and others are still children. What's so good about being angry when they say childish things?

He explained with a smile: "Tenth brother, that is absolutely not what I meant."

Zhu Tan asked, "Then what do you mean by making it more difficult to establish a vassal state overseas, Big Brother and Fourth Brother?"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to see his sons get upset over this matter, so he said loudly: "Okay, there's no need to argue about this matter anymore. I, as the father, will make the decision!"

"You can start as deputy captains. You only need to accumulate merits to become a third-rank commander, and then you will meet the military merit requirements for overseas fiefdoms!"

Since Old Zhu had made up his mind, no one dared to raise any objections.

But Zhu Tan's eyes rolled, and he asked another question: "Father, when can I join the army and make meritorious service?"

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not allow his sons to discuss it. After a moment's thought, he said, "Sixteen years old. Back then, the second, third, and fourth sons were all fifteen or sixteen when they went to Fengyang for recruit training."

"Ah?" Zhu Tan said with some reluctance, "Back then, there was no overseas vassalage, so it didn't matter if I joined the army earlier or later. But now that we are going to be granted overseas vassalage, I think it's better to join the army earlier."

Old Zhu felt that Zhu Tan was a little bit drunk.

He frowned and said, "Sixteen is too late? Go to the army and see how many sixteen-year-old deputy captains are there?"

"If you had joined the army as a general at fourteen, with your hair barely fully grown, who would have truly respected you? I see you've truly been obsessed with the idea of ​​becoming a vassal state overseas, and you've treated military operations like a joke!"

After being scolded by Old Zhu, Zhu Tan couldn't help but pout and dared not say anything more.

He has been reprimanded twice today.

If I continue doing this, I might lose favor.

Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer planning to let his sons discuss matters such as the specifications for establishing a government office and immigration, so as to avoid further disputes among his sons.

He said, "Next, let's discuss which overseas locations are suitable for establishing vassal states. Liu Kuan, please first tell us about the overseas situation."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan responded, then stood up and walked over to a global map. Starting with Southeast Asia, he began introducing the continents and oceans to Zhu Di's children and grandchildren. Liu Kuan had explained the world to Zhu Di once before, but that time had been a private conversation, and the explanation was rather brief. Now, as he was explaining it at Zhu Di's request, he naturally had to go into much greater detail.

Although Zhu Di and the princes and grandchildren who were still studying in the main hall had heard Liu Kuan talk about many overseas affairs before, they still listened attentively at this time.

After all, this concerns the choice of their future fiefdom. If they forget something, after choosing the fiefdom in the future, they will cross the ocean to see that it is a barren land with no one living there. Then they will have no place to cry.

Zhu Yuanzhang was also listening carefully, because many of the things he heard from Liu Kuan were the first time he heard them.

After listening to it, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that his horizons had broadened a lot.

"Liu Kuan, which places do you think are suitable for our Ming Dynasty to establish vassal states?"

Liu Kuan's throat was dry and he wanted to drink some water when Lao Zhu called his name.

The demarcation of the boundaries of a fiefdom is more likely to cause disputes than the establishment of military merit standards for overseas fiefdoms, and Liu Kuan would not do something that would offend others.

He simply bowed and said, "Your Majesty is the only one who can decide on this matter. I dare not interfere."

After Liu Kuan said this, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally did not dare to ask any more questions.

He stood up and walked to the huge global map, looking at it and thinking.

The princes and grandchildren also focused their eyes on the map, secretly guessing which places Zhu Yuanzhang would designate as vassal states.

"I hope Father won't be too partial to my eldest brother's lineage."

Zhu Di, Zhu Tan and others who were quick-witted could not help but pray secretly.

Zhu Yuanzhang was also secretly pondering how to appropriately divide this area - the places allocated to other sons to choose their fiefdoms should not be too few, but they should not hinder the future development of the Ming Dynasty.

About half a quarter of an hour later, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said, "Liu Kuan, the country with the largest territory in the future is that Mao Zedong, right?"

"That is exactly what happened, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again, "You said earlier that the Western powers began to colonize the world after they embarked on the great voyages of discovery. How did they colonize the world?"

When Liu Kuan heard this, he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to refer to the colonial experience of later European powers.

He was not worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would completely imitate the European powers - due to cultural differences, the Ming Dynasty's way of expanding overseas could not be as barbaric and crude as that of the European powers.

Therefore, he thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, there are probably five countries in the future that can truly be said to have colonized the world."

"The first was the Portuguese, who were the first to embark on the Age of Discovery. They opened up shipping routes from Europe to Africa and then to southern Asia."

"Because Portugal was a small and weak nation, and long-distance sailing was difficult at the time, it was difficult for it to organize a large fleet for long-distance voyages, let alone transport a large number of troops."

"In addition, at that time, there were several powerful countries in West Asia, India, and Southeast Asia, whose military strength even surpassed that of Portugal."

"Therefore, Portugal's colonization in Asia was mainly based on trade, and at most it interfered with the politics of small countries by supporting one party in order to gain more trade convenience."

"When dealing with larger nations, they often acted as merchants. For example, when they first visited the Ming Dynasty and saw its immense power, they bribed local officials to rent a piece of land in Macau."

"Although Macau was still nominally owned by the Ming Dynasty, it was actually occupied by the Portuguese, who established a so-called commercial zone, even stationed troops there, and even ruled it using their own laws - this was actually a colony!"

"It was precisely because of its small size and weakness, as well as the limitations of the times, that Portugal, despite being the first to embark on the great voyages of discovery, was never able to truly colonize the entire world."

"Nearly a hundred years after the Portuguese launched their great voyages of discovery, the Spanish stepped onto the stage of the great voyages of discovery."

"Spain was much larger than Portugal, and its national and military power were strong. Furthermore, they had relatively advanced ships and firearms at the time, so their colonization was the most brutal among Western nations."

"At that time, most of Africa had no country. The Spanish not only plundered various resources without scruples, but also used Africa as a source of slaves, trafficking black people all over the world, either selling them to other countries for profit or to mine, reclaim land, or plant crops for them."

"In places like Southeast Asia and the Americas, Spain established overseas territories, stationed troops there, and sent administrative officials to directly rule."

"For example, in the late Ming Dynasty, Spain occupied Luzon Island, destroyed the countries on the island, established overseas territories, and established the post of Governor-General of Luzon."

"In South America, Spain also established several overseas territories. Because these overseas territories formed a circle around the globe, the sun always shone on a piece of Spanish territory, so they proudly called themselves the 'Empire on which the Sun Never Sets'!"

Most of these princes and grandchildren learned about the solar system in the main hall and knew how the sun rises and sets.

Zhu Lao and Zhu Biao also knew about this. Even Zhu Di, Zhu Su and other princes who were sent to other places had heard about this from their younger brothers.

Therefore, when people heard the words "the empire on which the sun never sets", they all understood and could imagine the arrogance of Spain after colonizing the world.

Liu Kuan continued, "Because of its immense power, Spain often resorted to annihilation of the indigenous peoples during its overseas colonization."

"For example, the Inca in South America and the Aztec in Central America were both powerful and dominant indigenous nations in their respective regions, but they were both destroyed by the Spanish."

"Through this brutal method, they not only robbed the natives of their gold and silver treasures accumulated over hundreds of years, but also treated them as slaves, forcing them to mine, build roads, construct cities, and plant crops."

"The Inca population at the time was over ten million, but after a few decades of Spanish colonization, only two million remained."

"Even after colonizing the world, Spain was still not satisfied. At that time, China's wealth was world-renowned, and just when it happened that the Ming Dynasty's national strength had declined significantly, Spain turned its attention to the Ming Dynasty."

"They intend to destroy the Ming Dynasty just like they colonized America. Then they will enslave the people of the Ming Dynasty and turn it into another large overseas territory for them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and his princes and grandchildren were all shocked and angry.

Spain actually wants to destroy the Ming Dynasty and turn it into a colony?
How dare they?!
Then, thinking of what Liu Kuan said about the great decline of Ming Dynasty's national strength at that time, while Spain was at its peak and was known as the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others could not help but become worried.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked coldly, "Who was in power in the Ming Dynasty at that time?"

"Your Majesty, it is Emperor Wanli."

Is it that the incompetent, selfish, opium-addicted emperor Wanli is in power?
How did the Ming Dynasty survive this disaster?
For a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was also worried.

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)