Zhu Houzhao, who dreams of expanding his territory, has become a good father at this moment.

In the garden of the leopard room, the six-year-old prince Zhu Zaiyan and the princess Zhu Xuanzhen were taking a group of female eunuchs to play with Wang Ce and Wang Su.

Small children tend to trust older children.

Wang Ce, who is nine and a half years old, is the oldest, so he naturally became the king of children. He likes to dance with knives and sticks, and even with a group of children, he also plays war games all day long.

At this moment, the palace maids and eunuchs were divided into two groups. One group is led by Wang Ce, and the other group is led by Zhu Zaiyun, each holding a wooden stick, where you come and go and fight lively.

The sticks were plastered with lime, and the body was killed if it was hit. If a hand or foot is hit, which arm or leg is injured, the relevant part can no longer be used.

On the side of the crown prince Zhu Zaiyun, the palace maids and eunuchs were organized into a phalanx.

On Wang Ce's side, the palace maids and eunuchs were arranged in an arc.

Zhu Zaiyun did not fight in person, stood on the flower platform in the rear, rode a bamboo pole as a horse, and constantly commanded the battle ahead. Seeing that the enemy's formation was killed, he clapped his hands happily: "I won, I won!" ”

Wang Ce was stunned on the spot, and muttered to himself: "No, Grandma said that the Glaive Formation can break the phalanx, why did I lose?" ”

Zhu Houzhao had been watching from the side for a long time, and at this time he came over with the imperial concubine, and said with a smile: "The Glaive Array can indeed break the phalanx, but your formation is too thin, and the army in front of you is killed and worn too quickly." These palace maids and eunuchs are too few in number, and they are not well-trained soldiers, how can they wait for the Glaive Array to play a role? ”

"Is that so?" Wang Ce scratched his head and said in admiration, "Your Majesty knows so much, and the war must be very powerful." ”

"Hahahaha!"

Zhu Houzhao was amused and laughed, and touched Wang Ce's head: "These are just talking on paper, when it comes to fighting, your father is still powerful." If you have the heart to make contributions on the battlefield, you can learn more from your father, and drive all the Mongols away for me in the future! ”

Wang Ce held his head high: "Well, I will help Your Majesty kill the Mongols!" ”

Zhu Zaiyun jumped off the flower platform on a bamboo horse: "Father, I will kill the Mongols when I grow up." ”

"When you grow up, you must be a good emperor first, and the affairs of the battlefield will be handed over to the civil and military officials." Zhu Houzhao thinks about the expedition all day long, but he doesn't want his son to go to the front line.

Zhu Zaiyan pouted, looking unconvinced.

Princess Zhu Xuanzhen didn't like to fight and kill, and seeing that the battle was finally over, she ran to Wang Ce and said, "Brother Ce, let's go and kick the shuttlecock." ”

"It's not fun to kick the shuttlecock, but it's even more fun to kick the bow." Wang Su sang the opposite.

Zhu Xuanzhen was unhappy: "I want to kick the shuttlecock." ”

Wang Su said: "Kick the bow! ”

The children quarreled, and Zhu Houzhao was even happier, and after becoming a father, he was indeed not as perverse as before.

Well...... Convergence is limited.

"Your Majesty, the Jinyi Guards are all commanding Li Ying to ask to see!" A eunuch came to report.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Let him come over." ”

Li Ying carried the wooden box and put it on the ground to greet him: "Knock to see Your Majesty." ”

Zhu Houzhao asked: "What's in the box?" ”

Li Ying replied: "Wang Shilang sent it from Liaodong, let the minister personally present it to His Majesty." ”

Zhang Yong's gang has already controlled the inner court, and Gu Dayong can only walk in the inner school field and the elephant room, and it is difficult to see the emperor without being summoned. Wang Yuan delivered the round-the-world navigation chart, and he could only pass through Li Ying, otherwise he would definitely be stopped by Zhang Yong.

Zhu Houzhao immediately asked the eunuch to open the box, only to see a large stack of thick documents and a globe marked with a route.

Lying on the top is a private letter written by Wang Yuan to the emperor, introducing the basic situation of Magellan's fleet.

Zhu Hou read the letter and immediately picked up the globe.

Spain was the starting point for the voyage, and a red line crossed the Atlantic, then bypassed South America and crossed the Pacific Ocean to Asia. Wang Yuan said in the letter that this route may not be accurate, but the general direction is correct, and this fleet has been captured by the Daming Naval Division.

Zhu Houzhao held the globe, and the more he looked at it, the more excited he became, and asked the eunuch to lift the box and go to the study.

For the next month, Zhu Houzhao was reading Magellan's navigational materials. What he liked to read the most were those logbooks, and the bizarre overseas observations made the emperor eager to sail out to sea in person.

However, the log record is a bit miserable, and the crew died of starvation and disease.

Although Zhu Houzhao is curious, he has not really thought about seeking death, and he does not dare to drift on the sea for a year or two.

One day, Zhu Houzhao stared at the globe for a long time, and suddenly said to the eunuch: "Xuangu is very useful!" ”

After the eunuch went out, he first sent someone to report to Zhang Yong, and then sent someone to call Gu Dayong.

Gu Dayong came to the study happily, knelt down and said: "The slave and maid knocked on the emperor, I don't know what the emperor has called?" ”

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Which eunuch under you is reliable?" If you want to be usable, you don't have to be afraid of death, and you have to be in the prime of life! ”

Gu Dayong was stunned and replied: "Wei Zhong, the head of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, is thirty years old, can write, has force, and is reliable. ”

"Call him!" Zhu Houzhao said.

Gu Dayong called Wei Zhong, the head of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, again.

"Minister Wei Zhong, knock to see Your Majesty!" Wei Zhong was a little confused, both apprehensive and excited, guessing that the emperor had some special task.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and asked, "You are Wei Zhong?" ”

Wei Zhong replied: "The minister is Wei Zhong, who is now the eunuch in charge of Wu Xiang Zuowei. ”

Wu Xiang Zuowei is one of the four guards of Tengxiang, and there are more than 3,000 people in the four guard battalions. At the beginning, they were all sergeants who were separated from the battlefield and fled back, and the troops had been reorganized and there was no place to place them, so Zhu Di asked them to raise horses for the royal family. Gradually, he became a guard of the forbidden army, subordinate to the Yulin Guard, but under the control of the eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Guard.

Wei Zhong studied for a few years when he was a child, but because of the disaster in his hometown, his parents and brothers died, so he simply chose to wield a knife from the palace.

There were two kinds of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, one was castrated by the official and the other was castrated by themselves.

In the early years of the dynasty, those who castrated themselves could even take refuge in the gentry. The imperial court constantly forbade the use of eunuchs by the people, and these eunuchs could only wait for the imperial court to recruit, and the emperor and princes would recruit eunuchs from time to time to do things.

Wei Zhong is not surnamed Wei, nor is he named Zhong.

This is the consistent practice of eunuchs, and after castration, they change their names and surnames, so as not to insult their ancestors. The eunuchs with the surname Wang chose the most, followed by the surname Zhang, and the number of eunuchs with the surname "Zhong" was simply countless.

Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Are you proficient in martial arts?" ”

Wei Zhong replied: "I understand a little, the minister has also read a few military books. ”

Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied and asked, "I have an errand, nine deaths, do you dare to take it?" ”

Wei Zhong hurriedly said: "The minister is loyal to Your Majesty, and he is dead!" ”

"Okay, you will be called Zhu Zhong from now on!" Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.

Wei Zhongxi couldn't help himself: "Thank you for your majesty's surname." ”

Gu Dayong reminded: "Among His Majesty's righteous sons, there is already Zhu Zhong. ”

Zhu Houzhao said without thinking: "Then your name is Zhu Hai!" The sea of the ocean, the sea of thousands of miles, are all the world of my Zhu family. ”

Wei Zhong...... No, it should be called Zhu Hai, kowtow again and thank you.

Zhu Houzhao took out the globe: "The earth is round, this is the Ming Dynasty, and there are continents in the far east." I have appointed you as the Admiral of the Sea Exploration and will immediately go to the South Seas to organize a sea exploration fleet. The boats should not be too big, not too many, five or six ships will do. Once you've explored the continent of the Far East, you can sail back by boat. If this matter is successful, I will crown you as Tan Haibo! ”

Zhu Hai and Gu Dayong raised their heads at the same time and looked at Zhu Houzhao with incredulous eyes.

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty could not be knighted, and Zhu Houzhao wanted to mess around again.

While Zhu Hai's heart was surging, he instantly figured it out. If he is made an earl, there are only two consequences: first, he can no longer be a eunuch; Second, he can be a eunuch, but he has no hope of promotion, and he has to soak in the sea for the rest of his life.

Zhu Hai had no choice but to answer: "But according to His Majesty's orders!" ”

Zhu Houzhao also said: "Wang Shilang said in his letter that if he has been adrift at sea for a long time, he is prone to a kind of scurvy. You can prepare more beans and eat them on the boat. You can also prepare more pickles, vegetables and fruits can prevent scurvy. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reminder." Zhu Haidao.

Zhu Houzhao pointed to the pile of nautical materials: "I have already asked people to copy a copy of these, and you will study them on the road." According to the logbooks of the Tessians, the sea is extremely dangerous and the most taboo is infighting. When you choose a crew, you have to make it clear to them in advance, and it's best to pick a few hundred dead men to go to sea. If you find the continent of the extreme east, you can take people ashore to explore and get some rare items back. Remember to draw nautical charts along the way, which are not very accurate, and are written ambiguously in many places. ”

Zhu Hai said: "Remember. ”

Zhu Houzhao gave another instruction, and finally said: "When you go to Nanyang, remember to bring a message to Zhu Ying, the commander of Jinyi Haiwei, and say that I am very disappointed in him." The navigation drawings of the Taixi people, such an important thing, he didn't even know about it, and Wang Erlang had to send someone from Liaodong! ”