Since the Qin and Han dynasties, after the end of thousands of years of disputes, after the unification of China, a brilliant feudal civilization was born on this land.

Silk, porcelain, tea and other products of various civilizations were loved by neighboring countries, and even the merchants of Taixi were reluctant to come thousands of miles to trade.

The Qin, Han, Tang and Song dynasties, and even the Yuan Dynasty, have always been open to foreign trade, but before the Qin, Han and Tang and Song dynasties, the world's navigation was underdeveloped, and trade only existed on the ancient Silk Road.

However, after the Yuan Dynasty, the world's maritime industry entered a period of great development, and new shipping routes were constantly opened, and in the 16th century, because of the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the ancient Silk Road was cut off, and Taixi could only find a new route to the East from the sea.

As a result, the big and small Francos took the lead in the rise, and groups of navigators such as Columbus and Magellan rushed to the ocean one after another, and the navigation industry also flourished.

The American continent was discovered, new routes beyond the Cape of Good Hope in Africa were explored, and the South Asian subcontinent and a series of archipelagos were colonized by Tessie.

And the ancient civilization in the far east has finally been explored by the Taixi countries.

But at the same time, because of the cyclic contradiction between land and population in the feudal dynasty, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty declined at this time, and because of the rise of the civilian group, the military generals were suppressed and suspicious, and the national policy of foreign expansion in the early Ming Dynasty was left behind by the civilian officials.

In particular, scholars from the south, because of their class attributes, naturally wanted to tie the peasants to the land for life.

Therefore, there is a national policy of banning the sea.

However, since the late Jiajing Dynasty, the first phase of the world's great voyage has been in full swing, and it is impossible to isolate it from this wave.

However, if the right of foreign trade was ceded to the imperial court, scholars from the south would never allow it, so a deformed form of trade appeared on the southeast coast.

As a result, the pirates who were also merchants and bandits in the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty instantly became a prairie fire.

Unlike the pirates in Northern Europe, Western Europe, and the Caribbean, who focused on raiding, the pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were actually more like maritime merchants.

Although the pirates still raided each other, the purpose was not to plunder, but to delimit the sphere of influence of trade.

Of course, the pirates of the Ming Dynasty would rob a single merchant ship if they encountered it, but this was not their main business.

From Wang Zhi to the present Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang, their main business is to monopolize the trade in a certain area along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and by the way, collect protection fees from passing ships.

Zheng Zhilong monopolized the trade between Fujian and Zhejiang, while Liu Xiang monopolized the trade between Guangzhou and Qiongzhou and Nanyang.

Moreover, these pirates also have the shadow of the wealthy merchants of the southeast coast.

The pirates were in charge of the seas, and the merchants of the coastal land were in charge of the world's wealthiest merchants.

Of course, there are also Westerners in these areas, and since the occupation of Java and Batavia, they have been eyeing the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, in the past ten years, the situation has become more and more intense, and Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang and others have had conflicts with the Netherlands and the big and small Franco.

Especially in recent years, there have been more and more conflicts between Zheng Zhilong and Westerners along the Daming coast, and this is one of the main reasons why Zheng Zhilong seeks Zhao'an.

In the face of the two-sided attack of Westerners and the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong is as strong as Zheng Zhilong, and he only has the strength to face an enemy.

So, after the Fujian trust governor extended an olive branch, he did not hesitate to surrender to the Ming Dynasty on the surface.

On the coast of the Ming Dynasty, there were pirates of all sizes such as Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang who controlled the first island chain in later generations, and the Westerners could only sigh and have to retreat to the next best thing and buy expensive Ming Dynasty goods from the pirates of the Ming Dynasty and surrounding countries.

The surrounding Ming Dynasty, especially the vassal states that were close to the sea, were so keen on tributary Ming Dynasty in order to obtain cheap Ming Dynasty goods, and then sell them to those Westerners.

The officials and scholars from the south of the imperial court, the wealthy merchants of the southeastern coast, the pirates who were also merchants and bandits along the Ming coast, the surrounding vassal states, and the Westerners who came to Java and Batavia, these layers of forces formed a complete overseas trade chain and divided the interests that should have belonged to the Ming court.

Now, Zhu Youzhen wants to grab benefits from these poisonous snakes and beasts with their mouths wide open, but he can only do it step by step, if one is not good, it is not impossible to die and the country will be destroyed.

After all, now, whether in the court or in terms of economic strength, the areas south of the Huai River in the Ming Dynasty occupy a dominant position, and Zhu Youzhen, who is the son of the great tomorrow, can only let him go.

Although he used his own power to open a gap in maritime trade, he could only shrink in Tianjin, and his trade with Westerners was still isolated by the southeast pirates.

Of course, Zhu Youzhen still has a game of dark chess, although it is not conspicuous, but he is digging up the roots of the wealthy businessmen of the southeast coast, but they may not have noticed it yet.

After sending the envoys who came to beg for food, it was time to give the feast.

Rows of small tables and cushions were placed by the eunuchs in the Imperial Hall and in the square in front of them.

Although the Ming Dynasty gradually began to popularize the meal sharing system, due to the restrictions of the venue and royal etiquette, the court still used the separate meal system for major banquets.

As the small tables were set up one by one, and with the sound of Shao music, the officials sat down in two.

Guanglu Temple, which had been busy all morning, brought up plates of food like flowing water at this time.

Looking out from the door of the open Imperial Palace, a strange idea suddenly popped into Zhu Youzhen's mind.

If someone were to choose the Guinness Book of Records, a banquet of this magnitude would have been selected. ’

And compared with the Guinness of all kinds of strange delicacies in later generations, the banquet at the Zhengdan Dynasty Party reveals etiquette and culture everywhere.

However, the officials who dined outside the palace definitely did not have time to appreciate the etiquette and culture contained in the royal banquet, and they were so cold that they couldn't hold the chopsticks, or the chopsticks couldn't hold the dishes.

In the cold winter wax moon, braving the whistling northwest wind, thousands of people eat in the square, which is also strange enough.

After the banquet was set, the officials outside the hall often grabbed the wine glass and waited for the first round of toasting, and the weather was too cold, so they could drink some wine to ease down.

Without letting the officials outside the hall wait, the liturgy soon sounded, and the first round of toasting began.

The officials eagerly drank the wine from their glasses, from their throats to their stomachs and to their bodies and limbs, and then the officials felt better and began to eat some dishes.

However, in such a cold weather, no matter how delicious the delicacies are, they hastily took two bites of food, and the ministers waited for the second round of toasts.