Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 230: Ming Dynasty bans gambling and fights illegal activities! What happened to the promise that there would be no country in Nanyang? [Please subscribe]

Liu Kuan smiled helplessly after hearing what Lao Zhu said.

There are many things that future countries need to take into account. How can they do whatever they want like Zhu Yuanzhang did at this time?

Zhu Yuanzhang then said to Zhu Tan, "Those who defraud others of their money are truly despicable, especially those who use trickery to swindle a family's entire savings. They are even more despicable."

"Although we issued strict orders to crack down on these people when we first established our country, now that the country has enjoyed peace for over a decade, I'm afraid they've become active again among the people."

"Old Twelve, since you are in charge of the Six Gates, you should launch a major campaign after the New Year to crack down on gambling, fraud, and other people who commit crimes and murder."

"Even if we can't wipe them out in one fell swoop, we must clean up the morale of the people of Ming Dynasty and prevent the common people from suffering from these people!"

Zhu Tan had already had this intention after reading "All or Nothing". Now, after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's oral instructions, he immediately stood up and bowed solemnly, saying: "Your son obeys your command!"

Seeing this scene, Liu Kuan thought that it was not in vain that a movie could make Lao Zhu seriously carry out an operation to clean up criminals.

Speaking of which, although gambling houses seem to be everywhere in later costume dramas, in real history, gambling was banned in almost all dynasties, even the Yuan Dynasty was no exception.

Although the ban on gambling may not be well implemented locally, at least the law exists.

In history, during the 20th year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang used severe laws and punishments to crack down on the gambling culture among the people, and even issued an edict: anyone who participated in gambling would have their hands chopped off!
However, this should only be a special decree during the Ming Dynasty's "crackdown" period. The punishment for gambling in the "Ming Dynasty Law" was not so harsh - the gambling ringleader would have his property confiscated and be exiled; officials who participated in gambling would be punished one level higher; those who participated in gambling would be shackled and displayed to the public; those who committed the crime after gambling and were found guilty would be punished the same as those who committed the crime in the act.

Overall, the Ming Dynasty Code imposes quite severe penalties on gamblers.

Of course, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the court was dark, the officials were corrupt, and the court's control over the local areas declined sharply, so this kind of law was equivalent to nothing...
The scope of later-day fraud discussed in "All or Nothing" is relatively narrow, so Zhu Yuanzhang discussed it with the princes and Liu Kuan for a while and then ended the topic.

"Let's go to the side hall to discuss the opening of the sea this year and other matters."

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang took the princes over ten years old, as well as Liu Kuan and Zhu Xiongying to the side hall.

Just like the last Mid-Autumn Festival, the side hall had already been set up with tables, chairs, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, maps, and other items.

"Sit down, we are all family anyway." Old Zhu waved his hand and took the lead in sitting down on the armchair.

After everyone else had taken their seats, he addressed Zhu Zhen by name, "Sixth Brother, first tell me how the East China Sea Navy went in suppressing pirates last autumn and winter."

Zhu Yuanzhang actually learned about this kind of thing through the battle report last year, and now he let others know through Zhu Zhen's mouth.

Zhu Zhen stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the East China Sea pirates are only moderately strong. The East China Sea Navy has been training for over a year and is equipped with advanced firearms such as cannons and muskets. It should be easy to deal with the pirates."

"The pirates previously relied on the vastness of the East China Sea and the numerous islands, making it difficult for the government forces to track them down."

"But ever since the Bright Guards began providing relevant intelligence, it's become much easier for the East China Sea Navy to wipe out these pirates. During the four months I was there last year to oversee this matter, we wiped out dozens of pirate gangs, beheaded thousands, and won over ten thousand surrenders."

"Although there are still a few pirates hiding in the vast ocean islands, they are unlikely to cause any trouble to our Ming Dynasty coast. Moreover, the East China Sea Navy is now patrolling the sea frequently. If they don't show up, it's fine. But if they do, they will be discovered by the navy and will be destroyed."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction after hearing this.

Liu Kuan was not surprised by this result.

Historically, although the East China Sea pirates included subordinates of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen who had fled overseas, as well as some Japanese pirates, they were not a force to be reckoned with. They could only harass the coast of the Ming Dynasty, making the Ming Dynasty navy and land officers and soldiers exhausted and difficult to wipe out.

After all, the southeastern coastline of the Ming Dynasty is very long, making it very passive to defend.

Now, Old Zhu made up his mind to deal with the southeastern pirates almost two years in advance and deployed Guangming Guard spies there early on.

In addition, more attention was paid to the navy. Not only were the navy treated better and trained more diligently, but even the warships were better than in history.

By the autumn and winter of last year, the three major conditions of intelligence, warships, and soldiers had all been met, and the operation to eliminate the pirates was naturally a great success.

As for the role played by artillery and bird guns, it was not that big.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and walked to the East China Sea Map. He said, "Last year, the Ryukyu Kings of Zhongshan and Beishan came to pay tribute again, but they jointly complained about the Beishan King. It's obvious that they intend to annex the Beishan Kingdom."

"If it were three years ago, we would not have had any interest in overseas expansion and would not have cared about this island dispute. We would have most likely ordered the two countries and the Kitayama Kingdom to cease hostilities and coexist peacefully in the Ryukyu Islands."

"But Ryukyu is the gateway to the Greater East Ocean. If our Ming Dynasty is to embark on a great voyage of discovery, we must ultimately seize control of it. Now is the perfect opportunity."

"So we ordered our officials to mislead the King of Zhongshan and the King of Nanshan, making them mistakenly believe that we tacitly approved their annexation of the Kingdom of Beishan."

"According to the news sent back by the Ryukyu Guangming Guards at the end of last year, the Beishan Kingdom has been destroyed, but the Zhongshan and Nanshan Kingdoms have resumed fighting over an uneven distribution of spoils."

"The people of the three Ryukyu kingdoms are civilized after all. Even if we intend to conquer the Ryukyu, we cannot let them wipe out all their people." "After the Lantern Festival, you, Lao Liu, will serve as the chief envoy and be escorted by the Left Thousand Household of the East China Sea Navy to the Ryukyu Kingdom to question the King of Zhongshan and the King of Beishan."

"Then we will cooperate with the local Guangming Guards to complete the restoration of the Beishan Kingdom and the request for the three Ryukyu Kingdoms to annex us."

"When Ryukyu is established as a county and all tribes submit, you can come back—do you understand?"

"I understand!" Zhu Zhen clasped his fists, "I will definitely live up to your trust!"

The other princes showed envy when they heard this.

Making Ryukyu submit and establishing a county there, if this is accomplished, it will be a definite achievement in expanding the territory!

If Zhu Zhen accomplishes this task, he can at least accumulate one level of military merit!
"Seventh Brother, tell me about the training of the South China Sea Navy." Zhu Yuanzhang called out the name of Prince of Qi Zhu Gui.

The King of Qi was usually a bit unruly, but at this moment he stood up seriously, clasped his hands together, and began to report on the military training.

Since it is training, the South China Sea Fleet must focus on training - in fact, compared with the Beiyang Fleet and the East China Sea Fleet, the South China Sea Fleet has the most recruits, and has also undertaken part of the guard training tasks of several vassal kings.

It was through the report of King Qi that Liu Kuan learned that the South China Sea Navy Camp was moved from Guangzhou to Quanzhou.

Because the Ming Dynasty opened up the South Seas, it would follow the Penghu Islands, the Jianan Plain of Dongfan Island, Langjiao (Hengchun), Lanyu, cross the Bashi Channel in later generations, and then pass through the islands of Ibayat in later generations to reach the main island of Luzon.

At the same time, garrisons, observation posts, and supply points will be established in Huoshao Island, Taitung, Hualien, Yilan, Keelung, and other places in the future, and they will be connected with Huangwei Island, Chiwei Island, and even the Ryukyu Islands to the northeast of Dongfan Island.

From the establishment of these garrisons, supply points, and observation posts, we can see that Zhu Yuanzhang was truly determined to embark on the great voyages of discovery and make the Ming Dynasty a maritime hegemonic empire.

"Last year, in addition to training with the South China Sea Navy, I also escorted a group of garrison troops to land on Dongfan Island and established a Thousand Households Station in the Jianan Plain area shown on the Dongfan map."

"After that, we sailed south along the coast of Dongfan Island and located Langjiao. Finally, we sailed east for dozens of miles and found the Big and Small Orchid Islands before returning."

"The South China Sea Navy plans to dispatch two exploration fleets in addition to its training this year. One fleet will explore northward along the coast of Dongfan Island until it completes a circumnavigation of the island."

"The other fleet will explore the Luzon Islands until it lands on the main island of Luzon and then make a subsequent decision."

During the Tang and Song dynasties, people had boats to cross the sea to the Luzon Islands. By the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, there was already a relatively stable South China Sea route.

However, the route to Dongfan Island has not yet been opened, or it has not yet been stabilized. The South China Sea Navy is exploring in order to open up a safer and more stable route.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing Zhu Gui's words, and then said, "Next year, in addition to training and exploring new shipping routes, the South China Sea Fleet will mainly focus on escorting government and civilian merchant ships to trade with the countries of Southeast Asia."

"According to the news reported by the Nanyang Guangming Guards this year, there may be tens of thousands, or even nearly a hundred thousand, of Han Chinese in the Nanyang islands and countries combined."

"Also, although there are several indigenous kingdoms in the Luzon Islands, such as Luzon and Mayi, the populations of the largest are no more than two to three thousand households, while the smallest have only a few hundred households. They are called kingdoms, but in reality they are no different from barbarians."

"There are several major countries south of the Luzon Islands, such as Brunei, Majapahit, and Srivijaya."

"Brunei was originally the Kingdom of Borneo. A few decades ago, there was turmoil and the capital was moved to Brunei, hence the name of the country."

"Srivijaya, with its capital at Old Port, was a centuries-old power in Southeast Asia. It's said that at its peak two or three hundred years ago, its territory stretched north to Siam, south to Java, west to India, and east to Brunei. It boasted an army of over 100,000 and was unrivaled."

"But over a hundred years ago, Siam rose to the north, Majapahit to the south, and the Mongols also sent troops across the sea to attack. As a result, Srivijaya's territory shrank rapidly over the past century, and it has now become a small country in Southeast Asia."

"Among the Southeast Asian nations, Majapahit is now the most powerful. It controls the southern part of the islands, stretching from East to West Java. To the west, it has seized large tracts of territory from Srivijaya, and to the north, it has subjugated Brunei."

"In fact, Srivijaya was already in imminent danger under the attack of Majapahit. If nothing unexpected happened, it might be destroyed within ten years."

"That is to say, if the Ming Dynasty were to conquer Southeast Asia in the future, its greatest enemy would be Majapahit."

Liu Kuan was quite surprised that the Guangming Guards in Nanyang had sent back so much useful information to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Then he noticed that several princes were looking at him intentionally or unintentionally.

Liu Kuan immediately understood what the princes meant. "Didn't you say that most of the Nanyang islands are inhabited by indigenous tribes without any nation?" What about Srivijaya, the once powerful nation that dominated for centuries? What about Majapahit, the emerging Nanyang power?
The princes did not question him about the wrong information he had given them, so Liu Kuan naturally did not need to explain.

But he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed - after all, he was not a professional historian, and the history of Nanyang was so vague, how could he know so much?
While Liu Kuan was busy, he heard Zhu Gui ask with great interest: "Father, when will we send troops to Southeast Asia?"

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)