In September of the 14th year of Hongji, the monsoon and ocean currents in the eastern Indian Ocean had begun to reverse, changing from clockwise to counterclockwise.

From Nanyang to Tianzhu, you can just take advantage of this ocean current and monsoon, under the smooth wind, it originally took more than ten days to reach Tianzhu from Nanyang, but now it only takes eight days to reach Tianzhu.

The monsoon wind is howling, the sea is rough, and a huge fleet of ships sails on the boundless sea, cleaving the wind and waves, all the way west.

The scale of this fleet is very large, and there are more than 30 armed merchant ships in front, and the positions on the sides of the merchant ships are lined up side by side, like the hideous and terrifying teeth of fierce beasts.

Behind the armed merchant ships are hundreds of large and small ships, on which the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty and the flags of the major trading houses are hung, the flags swing in the wind, the hunting sounds, like thousands of troops, the momentum is magnificent.

On the deck of the 'Guan Yu', Feng Xiang, Zhu Benduan, Hu Xian, and Chen Lin stood together, the sea breeze carried a trace of coolness, but their hearts were hot and fiery.

It's finally time to act.

At this moment, several people can finally feel the taste of the autumn soldiers in the ancient battlefield.

The 5,000 men and horses plus the subsequent huge contingent serving the 5,000 men, the huge contingent of tens of thousands headed straight for the island of Ceylon.

"Two days to get to Ceylon!"

Zhu Benduan looked ahead and said with a little excitement.

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"Don't worry, we'll win."

Feng Xiang smiled and said very confidently.

The more he understood the situation on the island, the more confident he became.

Although Tianzhu is very large, it is not a unified and powerful empire like the Ming Dynasty, on the contrary, the entire Tianzhu has been composed of countless large and small city-states since ancient times, even the most prosperous Mauryan Dynasty, it still only rules the northern region.

The vast land of the Southern Plateau is still not unified.

Although Ceylon is no longer on the South Asian subcontinent, it is also very much in the impression of the South Asian subcontinent, a small island, equally fragmented internally, and the most powerful Sinhalese are divided into several countries.

The strength of every country is very weak, otherwise Zheng He would not have easily relied on 2,000 people to arrest even their king.

In the past few decades of history, the Portuguese have gradually conquered the entire gem island with only a few hundred people, which shows that the country here is very weak.

"Win, we're definitely going to win, there's nothing wrong with taking Ceylon."

"The key is how we will govern and rule this island of Ceylon after we have conquered it."

Hu Xian thought for a while and said.

He was now thinking about how to manage the affairs of Ceylon in the future.

"We can learn from Tian Erniu, don't the Sinhalese people on the island believe in Buddhism? Can we take advantage of this? Let them be willingly enslaved and honestly mine gems for us. ”

Feng Xiang thought for a while and said.

"Is that a good idea? But? I want to know how to keep the island for a long time. ”

"The geographical location of this island of Ceylon is very important, occupying the island of Ceylon? In the future, we can also use this as a springboard and gradually plot the entire Tianzhu. ”

"In addition to this, Ceylon is an important hub for east-west maritime traffic? Occupied the island of Ceylon? We have mastered this important route. ”

"So it's better to find a way to rule forever."

"It's all Sinhalese and Tamils here, and there are very few of us Ming."

"So in the future, we have to find a way to slowly move all the people here."

"When slaves are sold to the plantations of the South Seas, is it a good choice to move our own people to the island of Ceylon? So that it can slowly become our place? You can rule this place forever. ”

Hu Xian thought for a while and said.

I chose Ceylon not only because it was easier to win, but also because of the gems of Ceylon, but more importantly, the geographical location of Ceylon.

Taking the island of Ceylon can be used as a springboard, and going north can gradually encroach on the entire Tianzhu? To the east, you can conquer Burma, and to the west, you can go to the Middle East, Persia, and Africa.

Such a strategic location? It's too important.

"When slaves are sold to the plantations of the South Seas?"

"That's a good idea, and now the slaves here in the South Seas are very expensive? A slave costs more than 20 taels of silver, and I heard that Liu Jin has sold millions of taels of silver just to catch slaves in Java. ”

I wish Ben Duan a listen? His eyes suddenly lit up slightly.

"There aren't many people on the island of Ceylon? It is estimated that it will be hundreds of thousands of people? Tianzhu has a large population, and when the time comes, we can go to Tianzhu to trade slaves. ”

"A slave sells for twenty taels of silver, and there are not enough slaves to sell here in Nanyang now, and in the future, just selling slaves will be enough for us to make a fortune in the United Western Trading Bank."

Feng had a clear understanding of the situation in Tianzhu and Ceylon, and when it came to slaves, he was in the spirit, as if he had seen a new way of wealth.

"Our major commercial banks open plantations in Nanyang, there is no shortage of land, but there is a lack of manpower, and whoever has more manpower can open up more plantations."

"The slave trade is indeed a good business."

Zhu Benduan thought about it and nodded in agreement.

There is now a big problem in the development of the Nanyang region, and that is a serious shortage of manpower.

Large and small plantations have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, from the Ming Dynasty trading houses, plantation owners they are like a virus spread on the islands of all sizes in the South Seas, everyone continues to enclose and occupy land.

By now, everyone quickly discovered that there were not enough people.

The islands and the land were occupied, but no one cultivated the plantations.

People who migrated from the Ming Dynasty will basically reclaim their own fields, the Ming court vigorously encourages immigration, and a person can be rewarded with dozens of acres of land.

There was no way, one could only think of the use of slaves, the use of slaves to cultivate plantations, to grow sugar cane.

So much so that the slave catchers in the northern steppes quickly moved to the Nanyang region.

These professional slave hunters sought out natives in the primeval jungles of the islands of the South Seas, captured them, and sold them to plantation owners.

There are also some people who go to the side of Korea and the Japanese country, and use all kinds of means, whether it is deception or coaxing, in short, there is only one goal, to get people to the side of Nanyang.

Koreans and Wa people are the most popular among Nanyang plantation owners.

Because these Koreans and Japanese people are very obedient, as long as they are fed and paid, they work very seriously, and they do things very carefully, and they don't even need supervision.

For the Koreans and the Japanese people, life in the South Seas is much better, although they are also tired, but in the South Seas three meals a day, there are also fish and meat to eat, and at the end of the year, they can also get silver, this life is much stronger than they are in Korea and the Japanese country.

The serious shortage of manpower has also limited the development of the Nanyang plantation economy, which has made the major commercial houses and plantation owners also worried.

The slave trade is also booming again.

Chen Lin on the side didn't finish speaking, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Whether it's Zhu Benduan, or Feng Xiang or Hu Xian, these are all readers, and they all have fame.

Now when it comes to the matter of slaves and others, this face will not blush, this scholar is powerful, no matter what comes into their mouths, the dead can be said to be alive, and the living can also be said to be dead.

The most shameless are these readers.

"Forget it, it's still silver!"

Chen Lin shook his head slightly, they went to sea for silver, and they went to sea for silver, it seems that there is no difference in essence.

As for enslaving these barbarians, it seems that there is nothing wrong with it.

It is their honor to be enslaved by the Ming people and to be able to do things for the Ming people, and with the Ming people, they can know the etiquette, righteousness and shame, and they are slowly educated, and they have become civilized people from barbarians.

Thinking of this, Chen Lin couldn't help but blush again.

I seem to be very shameless.

Unconsciously led by these literati, turning people into slaves can still be said to be so righteous and dignified, it is estimated that there are only these shameless readers.

But when you think about it, it seems that this is the case.

The fleet sailed mightily across the Indian Ocean, and two days passed in a flash.

"Bell~Bell~"

"Found the land, found the land~"

On the 'Guan Yu', the lookout on the mast rang the bell and shouted excitedly below, and suddenly the people on the whole ship came to the deck in a hurry, took out the binoculars and looked ahead.

Faintly, you can see the outline of the land where the water and the sky meet.

Soon, the outline became clearer and clearer, and gradually expanded in the field of vision, and then gradually occupied the entire field of vision, and a huge land appeared in the field of vision.

"Finally arrived in Ceylon!"

Hu Xian put down his binoculars and looked at the island of Ceylon in front of him, this side is the east side of the island of Ceylon, the terrain is very high, and it is very steep, which is not suitable for the mooring of ships, and they must go around to the southwest of Ceylon.

The southwestern plains of Ceylon are ideal for anchoring in the natural harbours of high quality.

"The place where we fought for the first time has finally arrived!"

"Strive for two months to take the island of Ceylon, and when it is time for the Chinese New Year, we will bring the biggest and most beautiful jewel of the island of Ceylon back to the Son of Heaven!"