News of Trin's victory soon spread throughout the northern steppes, and the chiefs finally realized a serious problem, that is, the lamb in their eyes was armed to the teeth, and could come to the steppe at any time to help them move. And this little emperor is ambitious, the national alliance is just a sweet jujube he throws, and the big stick in his hand is already hanging over their heads.

Contrary to the worries on the grassland, Zhu Youxiao's mood was particularly cheerful, and he decided to hold a lively Spring Festival, and then hold a lantern competition on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. At this time, his prestige is unprecedented, for his will ministers naturally dare not slack off, soon the two ends of the royal road of Chang'an Street are full of all kinds of lanterns, there are dragon lanterns, yarn lanterns, flower blue lanterns, tree and ground lamps, especially the moon shadow lanterns made in Zhejiang, the process is extremely complicated, the candle lights are lit up The beauties on the tent dance, like the spring river flower moon, such as geese flying and fish jumping, vivid, lifelike.

When Luan drove out of the royal road slowly, the people who watched the lanterns flocked to both sides, wanting to see the face of the Emperor of the Apocalypse. Due to the suddenness of the incident, the rainbow guards beside him all looked nervous, for fear that something unexpected would happen. Zhu Youxiao was also shocked by this scene, but he was not worried about his safety, but was pleased that his efforts could be recognized by the world. Water can carry a boat or capsize a boat, as long as you have the people in your heart, the people will also support you. In recent years, Zhu Youxiao has to implement the new policy even if he transfers silver from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so that the Central Plains region, which was originally starving, has become rich and well-fed, and the development of handicrafts and foreign trade has made the people prosperous.

The prosperity is gone, the passion retreats, and everything is calm again. After the Spring Festival holiday, the Ming company began to operate again, in order to improve work efficiency, Zhu Youxiao officially restored the Wu Dynasty system in accordance with the old system of Emperor Xiaozong, and discussed government affairs with the elites of the cabinet and the military aircraft department all day long, and summoned the feudal officials one by one to review their performance.

Considering that his granddaughter has settled in the Qianqing Palace, but has not had an official title, this old fox knows that he can only effectively imitate Xiong Tingbi to work for the emperor, and it is difficult to pass without results.

"The five-vertical and four-horizontal road network has begun to bear fruit, and a large-scale migration of villagers has begun near the post station, changing the previous closed situation. The steel and timber used to build the bridge across the river have been shipped to various places one after another, and the ministers will supervise the subsequent construction.

In terms of water conservancy, the first phase of reinforcement has been completed in the dams of major rivers such as the Liao, Haihe, Huanghe, Huaihe, Yangtze, and Pearl rivers, and the construction of reservoir lakes and barrages on various tributaries. ”

After listening to Huang Wubu's report, Zhu Youxiao was happy about his work results, but this was not the time for a showdown, and he also needed Huang Kezhang to help him preside over the overall situation. For this reason, he turned to Yang Lian, the head of the household, and asked expressionlessly:

"What is the current situation of the people who have moved to Guanwai, Hami, Turpan, and Qinghai?"

Yang Lian thought that the little emperor would praise Taiguo Zhang in public, but he didn't expect him to play cards according to common sense, and glanced at Huang Kezhang with a little embarrassment, and then replied:

"Back to Your Majesty, there are examples of the four southwestern provinces changing the land and returning to the stream, a whip law has been implemented in the territory, the people who migrated not only got the full amount of the imperial court's subsidies, but also obtained the land in time, at present, the mood of immigrants in these places is stable, and the new population layout has achieved the expected goal."

Zhu Youxiao thought to himself that it would be strange that the people could get full subsidies, you peeled off the skin layer by layer, and there was not much left in the end, and the Jinyi guards and internal supervisors in various places had already discovered a large number of deductions, greed for ink, and concealment, but you still had the heart to sing a high profile with me here.

"Is Yang Aiqing too optimistic? In addition to testing the wisdom of those in power, the quality of policies also needs to be implemented by those who implement them. ”

Huang Kezhang and Yang Lian both touched their noses, knowing that this little emperor was not easy to fool, especially since he allowed envoys from all over the country to hear about things and submit secret folds, and knew the local situation well. Fortunately, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to attack them, but only began to inquire about their military reform after a little warning.

At present, the new-style army built by Sun Chengzong, Fang Zhenghua, and others has taken shape, and all of them are equipped with new firearms as the main battle weapons, and the corresponding establishment and tactics have also been perfected. By absorbing the flintlock pistol technology of the Dutch and English, Wang Gongchang improved the firing pistol that could be loaded with ammunition, and loaded the bullet, propellant, and ignition into the same cartridge case, making the shooting more efficient and accurate. Inspired by Zhao Shizhen's invention of the electric switch, Xu Guangqi and Bi Maokang studied in the direction of the son-mother gun, and not only discovered the effect of air tightness on the firing range, but also used compound lines in the chamber, which greatly improved the distance and accuracy of shooting, making the level of muskets in the Ming Dynasty close to the early Ferguson-style rifles.

Of course, the research and development of these technologies have been inadvertently instructed by Zhu Youxiao, the core principle of this Ferguson rifle is to use bolts and nuts in the back of the chamber, pour bullets and gunpowder into it and tighten it, and then fill the propellant from the fire tray, which is easy and safe to operate, and has achieved uninterrupted shooting with the three-stage hitting method of the early infantry.

At the same time, the plan to develop the Dresser rifle was also officially established, which is the first needle pistol in the history of human weapons. This kind of gun uses a firing pin to impact the tail of the bullet and uses a propellant to fire the bullet, the principle of which is close to that of a modern rifle, but due to the factors of materials and manufacturing technology, it is difficult to refine a firing pin that can be used repeatedly and a cartridge case that can achieve internal combustion, and it is necessary to wait patiently.

Compared with the army, the development of the navy has also been qualitatively improved. Since the capture of the Dutch East India Company's warships, Nan Juyi and Shen Yourong began to frantically imitate this Galen sailing ship, and with the wisdom of Oriental craftsmen, it has been on a par with the standard of English battleships. Inspired by the gun, rifles were also added to the chamber of the naval artillery, coupled with the application of the sighting system and the popularization of shooting knowledge, the firepower was incomparable. In terms of talents, the first graduates of Dalian and Ningbo Maritime Academies have entered the East China Sea and South China Sea fleets, becoming the backbone of the Ming Navy, and at the same time absorbing many Western navigators and Eighteen Zhi sailors.

Due to the growth of the navy, the commercial trade circle centered on Tianjin, Shanghai, Quanzhou and Guangzhou gradually prospered, and merchant ships on the sea frequently passed through, transporting goods such as silk, porcelain, tea, medicinal materials, and books from the Ming Dynasty to all parts of the world.

However, Zheng Zhilong's banditry is difficult to change, since hanging the golden signboard of Huayuan Trading Company, he has been unscrupulous on the ocean, not only forcing passing ships to hang the Daming Dragon flag, but also sitting on the ground to collect protection money. This kind of maritime hegemony in the name of civilian armed forces has caused European businessmen to suffer.

The growth of trade made the imperial court's annual income increase year by year, and the abundant treasury also accelerated the process of the new policy, and soon the imperial court changed the Nuer Gandu Division to Sanjiang Province, with the capital of Trinve, and went north through Yakusk to the Arctic Ocean, with Yuan Yingtai as the governor, Chen Ce as the chief soldier, and all the Tunguska and Rakshasa residents in the domain were incorporated into the Ming Dynasty household registration, and at the same time explicitly prohibited any trade with Tsarist Russia in the local area.

After the construction of Ziqing City began, Beihai Province was set up as the capital, with Wang Huazhen as the governor and Qi Jin as the general soldier, and built official residences for the leaders of the grassland tribes in the city, encouraging their descendants to study, serve and settle in Beijing, and gradually complete assimilation through the policy of ethnic equality.

With the stability of the north, Zhu Youxiao was finally able to concentrate on promoting maritime hegemony. In order to stimulate the Ming elites who upheld the land as the king, he specially summoned Yan Siqi from Taiwan and Yang Tiansheng and Li Guozhu from Nagasaki to participate in the politics of the DPRK. In front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, Yan Siqi said eloquently according to the script he had previously explained:

"Your Majesty, a criminal minister who fled to Japan in his early years, worked as a tailor, and also engaged in maritime trade between the two countries, and served as a snail in the Hirado area of the Japanese slaves. Thanks to the emperor's grace, he not only pardoned the crimes of the ministers, but also passed through the Ryukyu as a messenger. Since taking office, the minister has been sincerely afraid, and he has not dared to do anything without his life, and gradually incorporated the indigenous people on the island into the Ming household registration with Xingang as the center, recruited prestigious people to serve as liuguan, and recruited elite and strong people into the army, and now they can pay taxes to the imperial court. ”

As soon as Yan Siqi's words came out, everyone was dumbfounded, and secretly said When did the emperor appoint a large and small Ryukyu minister, and quietly set up a government office and recruit troops there?

Just when the hundred officials were surprised, Yang Tiansheng continued:

"Your Majesty, after returning to Nagasaki, the criminal ministers bribed the Dutch and some daimyo on the island of Kyushu to fight against the Edo shogunate's policy of banning religion and commerce. At present, the imperial court has controlled the large and small Ryukyus, and can block the trade routes of the Japanese state at any time, and then attach the distance advantage of Jeju Island, Busan Port and Telin, and use Nagasaki as a springboard to quickly occupy the four islands of the Japanese country, so that the bandits in the Ming Sea can be eliminated forever. ”

Yang Tiansheng's words were like a thunderbolt from the sky, and once again shocked the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and before he could react, he heard Zhu Youxiao say:

"Yan Aiqing and Yang Aiqing are both my courtiers, don't call yourself sinners in the future. I know that both of you were members of the Eighteen Zhi, and at one point wanted to overthrow the Japanese regime and set up your own door. Now that Zheng Zhilong has returned to the imperial court and become the governor of the newly established Huayuan Trading Company, what are the plans of the three of you? ”

Zhu Youxiao asked knowingly, Yan Siqi and Yang Tiansheng accepted the appeasement of the imperial court as early as when they were in Ningbo, and now they are just acting as double reeds. Li Guozhu is so smart that he pretended to excuse himself and replied:

"Your Majesty Shengmei, the four islands of the Japanese people were originally full of feudal states, and since Oda Nobunaga, they have gradually moved towards unification, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not greedy enough after usurping the throne, intending to annex Korea and win the Central Plains. After the failure of the Western Expedition, Toyotomi Hideyoshi fell ill and died, and Tokugawa Ieyasu took the opportunity to rebel, not only forming a new shogunate, but also killing all Toyotomi Hideyoshi's clansmen.

However, Tokugawa Ieyasu only formally unified the Wa Kingdom, and most of the daimyo in various regions were Yang Feng Yin and Yin violated, constantly fighting against Edo rule. In order to consolidate his position, Tokugawa Ieyasu adopted a policy of closing himself off from the rest of the country and forbidding Western merchants to preach and do business on the island, which aroused strong resentment in various countries. In order to obtain sufficient military spending, Tokugawa Ieyasu desperately exploited the common people and merchants, making the lives of the people everywhere miserable, and the smoke was everywhere. The minister believed that now was the best time to intervene in the civil strife of the Japanese, and united with the Westerners to compress the space for the Japanese to go to sea, and finally trapped them on the island. ”

Li Guozhu's words were very explicit, which aroused strong opposition from Fan Jingwen and other old ministers, and even moved out of Zhu Yuanzhang's testament, saying that the Japanese slaves were a country that was not conquered. In fact, compared with the wealth and prosperity of the Central Plains civilization, the Wa Kingdom was originally a wild land, and Zhu Yuanzhang once said that their king had no way to be a thief, so he did not want to be included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, his first task was to restore production and let the people live a good life, so he endured the provocation of the Japanese slaves.

Contrary to the tolerance of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese Invaders became more and more rampant, and by the Jiajing period, large-scale disasters began to plague the coastal areas of the East China Sea, plundering wealth and slaughtering the common people, gradually exposing their ambition to covet the Celestial Empire. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power, he even sent troops to attack Korea in a vain attempt to annex the splendid rivers and mountains of the Central Plains.

When Zhu Youxiao slowly recalled this history, the ministers found that the little emperor was not worried about the Wa Kingdom for a day or two, he not only showed a strong desire to conquer, but also had extremely rich information, so it seems that the Ming Dynasty's eastern crusade is ready to fly.