"The South Seas are our rice fields, Mongolia is our pastures, North America and New Summer are the wheat fields of the Celestial Empire, and the Tianzhu Deccan Plateau is our cotton fields......"

In the 20th year of Xingqian, a news report in "Ming Pao" used proudly written words to tell about the Ming Dynasty and the world in the 20 years of Xingqian, and there is no doubt that in the past 20 years, the Ming Dynasty has been closely linked with the world, and it will become closer and closer.

In that year, 35,000 merchant ships owned by the Ming Dynasty sailed on the seas, transporting the goods of the Ming Dynasty to all parts of the world, and also transporting the goods from all over the world to the Ming Dynasty.

And in this sentence, Nanyang is put in the first place, not only because of the feudal domain of Nanyang, but because Nanyang is not just Zhuxia, its importance is far greater than other regions - there is the granary of the Ming Dynasty!

After dividing the feudal domain in Nanyang as Zhuxia, how should the economy of Zhuxia develop, spice plantations? Coffee plantations? This obviously does not meet the needs of Daming. And with the founding of Zhuxia. The Ming court faced two fundamental problems: first, how to firmly hold the divided empire and maintain Zhuxia's closeness to the mother country. Second, how to promote the development of Zhuxia so that they can use local manpower and raw materials to achieve financial self-reliance.

After the partition of the feudal domain, the Cabinet and the Governor's Office of the Five Armed Forces held a meeting in the Bunzhao Pavilion to formulate a basic policy for the development of the Nanyang economy, which was to develop agriculture, especially rice cultivation.

Almost from the first day of colonizing the South Seas, Daming has a clear plan for this area with good natural conditions - to develop agriculture based on rice cultivation, indeed, for Daming, who is in the Xiaoice River period of floods and droughts and other natural disasters, it also needs this area that is not affected by the bitter cold of winter, as a reserve "granary".

Almost from the day the first ship of "Nanyang Rice" was transported to Jiangbei, "Nanyang Rice" linked Nanyang and Daming. And now the rice planting industry is given more significance, related to the future of Zhuxia, under the guidance of the imperial court, the first thing after Zhuxia came to the country, is to introduce the advanced planting experience of the Ming Dynasty, the traditional agricultural methods were overthrown, and every effort was made to increase the rice planting area, in order to increase the yield, to meet the needs of the export of the Ming Dynasty.

Nanyang, day by day, is developing towards the granary of the Ming Dynasty, which is a predetermined goal. For the Ming Dynasty, 20 years after the Xingqian, Nanyang Zhuxia is not only a granary, but also the most important export market, Zhuxia and the Ming Dynasty import and export trade of hundreds of millions of taels every year, prospering the markets of the two places, and also making the connection between each other, increasingly close.

It is precisely because of the increasing importance of the South Seas to the Ming Dynasty that Nantianmen, as the most important foundation of the Ming Dynasty in the South Seas, is located on the southernmost island of the Johor Peninsula, which is the frontier of the Ming Dynasty's entry into the South Seas, and is also the earliest stronghold of the Ming Dynasty in the South Seas.

When the steamship sails into the Johor Strait, which is more than ten miles wide, even those who have been to Haizhou will be amazed at the number of ships here, thousands of large and small sailing ships and steamships anchored in the bay, and the wharf is also very lively, tens of thousands of dock workers are carrying goods onto or off the ship, and small sampans pass between the ships.

Witnessing the busy port in front of him, Zhu Mingzhong's expression even changed a little, even he didn't expect that the current Nantianmen would be so lively.

"In 23 years, from a sparsely populated desert island to a port city with a population of 600,000 now......"

Even from the perspective of the twenty-first century, this is extremely rare. Just when Zhu Mingzhong admired the speed of the development of Nantianmen, there was a somewhat harsh sound in his ears.

"Oh, Nantianmen, you see how lively it is here, if it weren't because His Majesty didn't allow Western merchants to enter other ports in the Ming Dynasty, how could there be its liveliness, he was so lively, but it hurt us, you say, what are the adults in the court thinking? Why don't you discuss it and change it, this is a trade with the West, and it should be ...... with rain and dew?"

The harsh words came into his ears, Zhu Mingzhong just smiled slightly, and did not show the slightest displeasure, for the "one-stop trade" of Nantianmen, the country has always been quite a whisper, every year there are people who advocate that the "trade privileges" of Nantianmen should be abolished, and Westerners should be allowed to enter the ports of Daming to trade, but this matter has never entered the cabinet discussion, and it is Zhu Mingzhong who prevents the cabinet from discussing.

"Okay, Zhida, don't complain, even if the port is opened for trade, Western ships will not come to you, don't talk about Western ships, you are inland, this is to complain, it should be Guangzhou and Ningbo, where it is your turn to ......"

"What do you know, if the port is opened for trade and Western ships are allowed to go to Ningbo, then how can Sun need to travel thousands of miles by sea every year and take so many risks at sea......

When the complaint over there reached his ears, Zhu Mingzhong almost didn't laugh out loud, but instead of being the slightest displeased because of the man's complaint, he became more and more happy.

"Father, I'm afraid that's the reason for the trade."

After leaving the dock, Zhu Heyuan, who was sitting in the carriage, asked thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

Admiring the prosperity of the market outside the car, Zhu Mingzhong didn't react, and didn't even understand what his son's question meant.

"That person just now had to sail thousands of miles to Nantianmen to do business, and the mainland goods want to be sold to the West, must be shipped to Nantianmen, because only Nantianmen is open to Western merchants, so, in order to sell goods to the West, domestic commercial houses must form their own merchant fleet, and can not hope that others will come to the door, and the Ming Dynasty's maritime prosperity also began here, first Ming to the South Sea, then Tianzhu Sea, then the Atlantic, Pacific ......"

Looking up at his father, there was only admiration left in Zhu Heyuan's eyes, after all, it was his father who formulated all this, and some seemingly incomprehensible actions always had many intentions that would take more than ten years or even decades to understand.

That's why he asks this question and makes such a judgment.

"Look at this ......"

Pointing to the many Westerners on the street who looked very different from the Ming people, Zhu Mingzhong said with a smile.

"At the beginning, the development of Nantianmen was based on trade with merchants from Western countries, and at that time, many Western merchants were willing to save some risks and trade here, but what happened later? Today, Nantianmen actually benefits most of the prosperity of Zhuxia! ”

Zhu Mingzhong did not answer his son's question, but only emphasized the present.

"Many people say that the prosperity of Nantianmen is because of a mouthful of trade, but they don't know that according to customs statistics, the total trade volume between us and Zhuxia is six times that of the West, and the population of Zhuxia is not more than 10 million, and the consumption of Europe far exceeds the population of tens of millions, and the Westerners ......."

Looking at those Westerners on the side of the road, the corners of Zhu Mingzhong's lips lifted slightly.

"What else is there but poverty everywhere? Of course, they do have certain advantages in certain scientific fields, and they are really worth learning from, and we have learned a lot from them in the past few decades, but ......"

The words paused slightly, and then Zhu Mingzhong said contemptuously.

"That's it, now, even if all the ports are opened, I dare to say that 95% of Western merchant ships are still willing to come to Nantianmen for trade, not only because they are familiar with this place, but more importantly, in Nandaminghai, the competition is more fierce, not to mention ......."

Zhu Mingzhong's voice was slightly deep, and then he said earnestly.

"Now too many Westerners want to settle in the Celestial Empire, and the most popular thing in the Celestial Empire is to go to the Celestial Empire, if we open up the mainland, it is estimated that there will be millions of Westerners, at any cost, to the Celestial Empire, trying to settle in the Celestial Empire......"

At this moment, a group of Western women on the side of the road came into Zhu Mingzhong's sight, looking at those Western women who were dressed like the Ming people, those Western women, they came to the Celestial Empire thousands of miles away, even if they were maidservants, they were willing. But even so, the Celestial Empire is not something they want to go to, most of them have probably gone to Zhuxia and become the maidservants of a certain Zhuxia country, if they are lucky enough, they will become someone's concubines, and then give birth to children for them.

"But the Celestial Empire is not something they can easily go to!"

As soon as Zhu Mingzhong's words fell, someone suddenly interjected.

"Oh, I'm afraid this gentleman doesn't know yet, those Westerners, in order to go to the Celestial Empire, can be said to do everything, a while ago I heard that a student who went to the Celestial Empire to learn what Western painting was, stayed in the West for a few years, okay, actually brought back four or five Western women, and brought back the dolls, those Western women, the favorite is a student like them, staying alone in a foreign country, having neither relatives nor friends, those women all say what they are beautiful, but they are like fox spirits, I can't wait to swallow that person alive, why is this happening, aren't you envious of our Celestial Empire......"

It was the carriage driver who interjected, and his words made Zhu Mingzhong laugh.

"This kind of envy is good, in fact, this Western country is also very boring, you should directly use your daughter as a student partner, specially accompany the students of the Celestial Empire, understand the customs of the West, and know the culture of the West, isn't it wonderful......"

"Master, look at what you said, we go to the West to learn things, so we are afraid of just thinking about these things."

The coachman's words made Zhu Mingzhong laugh.

"It's not wrong to study and live, this is also the best way to understand Western culture, not ......"

One is too little, at least three......

I muttered in my heart. Zhu Mingzhong smiled, at this time, the carriage happened to stop in front of the hotel, and when the coachman took off the luggage, he looked at the young Zhu Hezhen, and specially ordered.

"Little boy, just let me say, you have to be careful, this Nantianmen is full of Western maids who want to pass through a master, but don't be careless and let people deceive them, there are a lot of Western maids in the Nanyang Hotel, if they see a character like Xiao Gongzi, they may not ......."

The coachman's advice made Zhu Heyan blush for a while, and the guards on the side also endured it so that they didn't laugh out loud. Just then, he heard a familiar voice.

"Father...... Father ......"

It's the second brother!

Listening to the words that he hadn't heard for many years, Zhu Heyu saw that his second brother Zhu Heyu had already walked out of the hotel at some point, and knelt down and kowtowed when he was still a few steps away from his father.

"The child is not filial, and he can't meet his father far away......"

For such a scene, no one thinks it is strange, in Nantianmen and Zhuxia, almost every day every place will be staged a similar scene, after all, the people living here, when they leave their hometown, are often alone, when they succeed here, often pick up their families, such a scene, always from time to time in Nanyang all over the place.

Although the identities are different, when facing his son who has not seen him for several years, Zhu Mingzhong still couldn't help but be a little excited, and he hurriedly helped Zhu Heyu up and said.

"Hurry up, hurry up, let Daddy take a good look at you, see your ......"

Even if he thought he was strong, but the moment he saw his son, Zhu Mingzhong still felt that his eyes were a little hot, after all, he hadn't seen him for several years.

Looking at Zhu Heyu, who was already twenty-three years old, Zhu Mingzhong nodded slightly and said with a smile.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm not very thin, otherwise, your mother will probably have to complain about me again......"

Seeing that there was no mother behind his father, Zhu Heyu was inevitably a little disappointed in his heart, but then he figured out that it was inconvenient for his mother to come. At this moment, a teenager rushed over and hugged him and said.

"Second brother!"

While hugging the second brother, Zhu Heyuan couldn't help crying.

"I miss you......"

"Little Nineteen, they've all grown so big......"

As soon as the words fell, tears flowed out of Zhu Heyu's eyes, and he hugged his brother tightly after not seeing him for many years, completely ignoring his demeanor as a king.

Seeing the true feelings of the two brothers, Zhu Mingzhong sighed in his heart, then patted him on the shoulder, and then said softly.

"Okay, these days, you have time to be together, let's go to the house and talk first."

After speaking, Zhu Mingzhong walked into the hotel, when entering the hotel, he unexpectedly saw the governor of Nantianmen, although he did not alarm the place when he went out on patrol, but Zhu Heyu, the king of Jin, visited, but alarmed Nantianmen, after all, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, the prince is not allowed to return to the mainland after the emperor's edict, although Nantianmen is not the Ming Dynasty, but the arrival of the king of the Jin Kingdom, still makes the Nantianmen authorities have to deal with it carefully.

In the past few days, from Zhu Heyu to Nantianmen, the governor of Nantianmen has been accompanying him, seemingly chatting with him, but he always asks him a question - why did he come here, of course, the more important question is, when to leave.

He even wanted to send King Jin out of the South Heavenly Gate now. I never thought about it, but in the lobby of the hotel, I saw such a scene, and of course as the governor, I have seen Your Majesty. It's just that I didn't expect to see Your Majesty here, almost without thinking.

"Your Majesty!"

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