Since Zhu Yipai was appointed as the prime minister of foreign affairs, he has always followed the orders of Zhu Youxiao, and was soon named the king of Europe, responsible for the military and diplomatic liaison between the Ming Dynasty and Western European countries. He was proud of the return of the mission this time, and the limelight had completely overshadowed his uncle Zhu Shouhong, King of Lu, and Zhu Shouyong, the king of Taixing, and became a strong contender for the Zongren Mansion.

Of course, he understands that the golden phoenix can't fly out of the chicken coop, and he can have today because he has scattered his family wealth many times to support the new policy of the little emperor, and in order to persuade the royal princes, he even gave up his inheritance rights, and devoted himself to the Royal Academy of Social Sciences with only a paintbrush.

For this kind of loyal fan, Zhu Youxiao will of course not hesitate to reward, and began to call him Prince Ou before the canonization ceremony was held, and allowed him to take a stake in Huayuan Trading Company, so that he can sit on a rich dividend every year. Zhu Yipai, who gained both fame and fortune, did not disappoint Zhu Youxiao, and soon brought back a lot of important information from Europe. At present, the Thirty Years' War in Europe is intensifying, and the prestige of the German and Roman popes is being challenged by the Protestant countries of England, France, and the Netherlands, who have stopped their plans to develop their navies and strive for supremacy on land.

Due to years of war, many declining nobles, merchants, soldiers, and craftsmen followed the Ming Dynasty missions to the East, with a total number of no less than 4,000 people. Although Sun Chengzong and other old ministers opposed the over-employment of foreigners, Zhu Youxiao was like picking up a treasure, and he could wake up with a smile in his dreams.

These people can accept even if they come to the Ming Dynasty to cheat and drink, and the bourgeois revolution and industrial revolution in Europe will be postponed for many years without talents, not to mention that now the overseas territory of the Ming Dynasty has increased sharply, and the educational reform needs the support of a large number of new talents.

The next day, Zhu Youxiao received these returned heroes in accordance with the highest etiquette, and ordered the officials in Beijing above the fourth rank to bow down and greet them in the Huangji Palace, and congratulate these heroes on their safe return. As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, and it is much less difficult to send missions and set up consulates after their personal experience, which is definitely worth celebrating for Zhu Youxiao, who is bent on competing for hegemony in the ocean.

According to the records in "Wanli Ye Shu Ed.", the emperor of the Ming Dynasty invited the most guests to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a typical workaholic, working from morning to night every day, and had almost no entertainment hobbies. With such a hard-working emperor, the ministers under him naturally have to be busy, and after a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang felt embarrassed, so he thought of a treat, "When the hundred officials retreat, they will give food to the court." Although the use of the cover is strict, the courtiers are polite. And every day it is given to the continuous cold and summer, even if it is compassionate and ......". Flash Dance

After Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, the food standard of the harem has always been four dishes and one soup, and only two dishes have been added after the financial improvement. Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly, and glanced at Wang An, Wang Anxin took out a holy decree and officially canonized Zhu Yipai as the prince and entered the cabinet to participate in political affairs.

It is no secret that Zhu Yipai is going to be named Prince Ou, but his scalp is still numb with excitement after the holy decree, especially to let him enter the cabinet to participate in political affairs, which means that he has entered the highest decision-making level of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yipai, who was overjoyed, did not forget to be grateful, and knelt down and said

"My Emperor Shengming, long live, long live, long live! Since he became the Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs, he has only suffered some turbulences, and his achievements have all depended on the Holy Lord's point to clear the maze. ”

Zhu Yipai was so modest that Zhu Youxiao was unexpected, the age difference between the two was not much, but according to their generation, they should call him Uncle Huang, so he said with a smile

"Uncle Huang doesn't need to be too modest, you have traveled thousands of miles to envoy European countries to fight a war without gunpowder, the danger is very understandable, and its merits are no less than those soldiers who shed blood for the imperial court. The first person to eat the crab was great and deserved to be a model for the world to be praised by future generations. ”

In view of the episode in front of Zhu Youxiao's "jumping off the building", all the people who went abroad this time were entrusted with important tasks, and together with those foreigners who came with him, they were also arranged to the Naval Academy of Social Sciences, Guozijian, Military Academy, Arsenal and other important departments, and since then they have taken up the iron rice bowl of the Ming Dynasty and become participants in this change. Zhu Youxiao believes that science and technology and knowledge know no borders, and whoever can take the lead in breaking through steam technology can lead this era and become the new hegemon.

Contrary to the Ming Dynasty's active pursuit of talent, Europe at this time was too busy defending itself in religious wars to entrap those who could not go to war. As a result, they were powerless to resist the increasingly powerful Ming Dynasty sailors, and were forced to recognize India east as the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty, and the Portuguese, who had always had interests in the Nguyen clan in South Vietnam, took the initiative to withdraw from the South China Sea. In return, the Ming Dynasty granted the British, Dutch, and Portuguese most-favored-nation status, allowing their merchant ships to sail within the territory.

Since then, Zhu Youxiao has formally established the strategy of fighting for hegemony in the ocean with distant friends and close attacks, and the conquest of Annam has become the next goal of the Ming Dynasty's foreign expansion. In order to annex South Vietnam before the end of the European battlefield, Zhu Youxiao soon appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the general of the expedition to the south, commanding the guards of Yun, Gui, Sichuan, and Guangzhou, and cooperating with the 50,000 royal army led by Zhu Kuiyuan, Huang Degong, and Sun Chuanting to recapture the occupied Fenghua and Jianchang provinces, and the army gained the initiative to attack after capturing Lang Son.

On the sea side, after the South China Sea Fleet under the command of Shang Zhouzuo, Jiang Dejing and Shen Yourong arrived at Cam Ranh Bay in the Champa Kingdom, they first concentrated their forces to inflict heavy losses on the stubborn Portuguese fleet, and then continuously cut off the forces of Liu Xiang and other pirates with the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, and finally blockaded Fugang and blew up all ships that could sail to the sea.

In terms of diplomacy, he sent the king of letters, Zhu Youzhen, to visit Southeast Asia, and concluded military alliances with Siam, Chenla, and Champang, and the Ming Dynasty generals commanded the four-nation coalition to seize the mouth of the Mekong River by land, and built deep-water wharves and permanent military works in the local area, forming a north-south flank with Yuan Chonghuan, Zhu Kuiyuan and others against the Zheng clan and Quang Nam Nguyen clan in South Vietnam.

In order to dispel the wariness of these vassal states, Zhu Youxiao followed the precedent of Oda Nobuyhiro, ordered King Shin to marry the Siamese princess Ganya, and listed Siam, Chenla, and Champa as non-conquering countries in the form of legislation, further isolating South Vietnam. At the same time, Buddhism was designated as the state religion of the Indochina Peninsula and the Nanyue Islands, and Confucianism was the orthodoxy of daily education, and the spread of foreign religions and cultures was prohibited.

Under the heavy pressure of the Ming Dynasty, the Zheng and Nguyen regimes began to have civil strife, first Li Jingzong conspired with Zheng Chun to plan to kill Zheng Song to regain imperial power, and was immediately forced by Zheng Song to hang himself, which led to the complete severance of relations between Nguyen Phuc Yuan and Zheng in Quang Nam, and the plan of the two countries to jointly fight against the Ming Dynasty failed. In order to leave a way out for himself, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen then married his daughter Nguyen Ngoc to King Gizheta II of Chenla, and acquired a large area of land in the Puliango region as a strategic detour space.