Agriculture is the foundation of industry.

As an agrarian empire, when most of the population was engaged in industrial production activities, it naturally brought about a food crisis.

Fortunately, the progress of industry has also promoted the progress of agricultural productivity.

Yan Song, the governor of Nanzhili, popularized chemical fertilizers in the Jiangnan region, which significantly increased grain production.

In addition, the dredging of large-scale canals and rivers has also provided better irrigation conditions for crops, which has further stimulated food production.

The emergence of the food crisis also further intensified the pace of foreign expansion of the Ming Dynasty.

However, up to now, it has mainly been commercial expansion and the migration of ordinary people, and military expansion has not been the main means.

In the north, a large number of merchants continued to appear, and the cultivated land area in eastern Liaodong increased sharply.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also issued an edict to encourage the people to go out of the customs.

As long as the people were willing to go out of the customs, they could buy a large amount of land from the imperial court at any low price.

In the south, a large number of local gentry and large households, especially people from Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, and Guangzhou, began to move to Taiwan and Manchuria, Luzon, Champa and other places to carry out tuntian, and export grain to the Ming Dynasty for sale.

At present, the central court and local governments of the Ming Dynasty have begun to purchase grain through grain stores to reserve disaster grain.

The Ming merchants in Southeast Asia naturally hired local natives to farm.

Of course, this also exacerbated the contradiction between the Han people and the local natives, because although it was not a military means, when the Han people exported a large amount of local grain to the Ming Dynasty, it also harmed the interests of the natives.

This matter is not mentioned.

The Ming Dynasty is only now in a period of transition from a small peasant economy to a commodity economy, the country has not yet been fully opened, foreign colonial expansion has not yet begun on a large scale, and many contradictions have not yet completely erupted.

Therefore, as if on the eve of the volcanic eruption, in this era when the Age of Exploration had just begun, the Ming Dynasty and even the whole world still seemed very calm.

It was as calm as the Atlantic Ocean that Xia Yan saw at this time.

For more than a year, Xia Yan didn't expect that he would be adrift on the sea for so long.

Along the way, he relied on the information left by Zheng He to find the footprints left by the Ming fleet, and re-erected the monument, and because he refused to recognize their control over the navigation route, he fought with pirates and even Western colonists, and even lost many soldiers of the Ming Navy who followed his western tour, and many died of sepsis and other diseases.

So much so that when Xia Yan and his fleet arrived at the North African port of Ceuta, which was controlled by Franco, the officers and men of the Daming Naval Division and other civil and military officials who accompanied him had been reduced by more than 1,000 people.

At this time, the Buddha also knew that the Eastern Empire of the Ming Dynasty had sent their envoys.

If the Ming Empire had not eliminated the fleet of the Franc Machine in the East before, that is, the fleet that first established a colony in India and then captured Manchuria, the fleet that had always been the pride of the Franc Machine, the Franc Empire would have been very willing to establish trade ties with the Ming Empire, because as the Western countries at this time, they dreamed of doing business with the Ming Dynasty, an ancient empire in the East, so as to sell the tea and silk of the Eastern Empire to the West and make huge profits from it, of course, it would be better if they could plunder it directly.

Westerners in this era are not only businessmen, but also businessmen and robbers in many cases, and even more often play the role of robbers.

However, now the Ming Dynasty has eliminated the fleet of overseas expansion, and even took away the route of the Franc Aircraft in the east of the Indian Peninsula, and even forcibly passed through the routes controlled by the Franc Aircraft in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean by force, which has greatly damaged the maritime interests of the Franc Aircraft Country, and the Franc Aircraft naturally does not welcome the appearance of the envoy Xia Yan of the Ming Empire.

But Xia Yan is not a peace envoy, but an armed envoy, which can be understood as an armed patrol.

Like Zheng He when he went to the West, he brought not only goods and his own eyes of scrutiny, but also guns and warships, so Francophone did not dare to drive away Xia Yan.

Even Xia Yan took Ceuta by the way, and captured the governor Da Gama, who had just been appointed by King Momanuel I of Franco, half a year earlier.

At this time, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were already frantically plundering the gold and gems left by the Franc Machine in and outside the city of Ceuta, and of course, the officers and soldiers who had been holding back at sea for a long time could not help but forcibly possess the woman of the Franc Machine and frantically imported the genes of the Ming people.

Xia Yan didn't stop it, because this was the condition he promised to the officers and soldiers of the Daming Water Division.

The officers and soldiers of the Daming Navy Division escorted Xia Yan to the Western Ocean with their lives, and Xia Yan, the right attendant of the military department, had to allow them to plunder at will when they occupied a place, otherwise who would be willing to follow him Xia Yan to the ocean.

Zhu Houzhao taught him Xia Yan at Beijing Normal University about nationalism, and Xia Yan, who was deeply influenced by the traditional idea that family is the country, believed in this very much, and he didn't care if he could make much money.

This is different from Vasco da Gama's original purpose when he opened the Eastern Route was just to make himself rich.

Xia Yan hoped that these Ming officers and soldiers who accompanied him could make a fortune through overseas plunder, and attract more people in the Ming Dynasty to be willing to go to sea, instead of relying on the sky to eat on the ten acres of land at home, and to avoid the people from rebelling due to natural disasters and land annexation.

Therefore, Xia Yan allowed these Ming officers and soldiers to plunder with the nature of primitive capital accumulation.

"This is overseas, the laws of the Ming Dynasty can't control here, and you are the people of the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Heavenly Empire, your behavior can only be controlled by the Ming government, so, here, no one can control you, this official is the right attendant of the military department and the western patrol, only responsible for commanding your military operations, therefore, go and increase the wealth of your family, remember to get a copy for the dead brothers!"

Xia Yan's seemingly logical words still seemed to still resound in the ears of the officers and soldiers of the Daming Water Division, and also gave them enough motivation to participate in the primitive capital accumulation of the Ming Empire.

Of course, Xia Yan came to the West to tour not only to bring a group of sailors and soldiers to be robbers, but also to come to the West for another purpose, that is, to investigate why this West is different from the Chinese civilization, what is the Greece and Florence in His Majesty's mouth, and the so-called Christ and Pope here, etc.

"Be honest with me!"

At this time, da Gama was brought over by a military attaché, and the military attache also said to Xia Yan: "My lord, this is what Pires said about Da Gama, the governor of Ceuta, who was caught by the last general, please send it down, is it to be beheaded or to feed the fish?" ”

"Vasco da Gama, is this what His Majesty said about Vasco da Gama?"

At this time, Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang, who traveled west to Ceuta with Xia Yan and was about to continue westward for a global voyage, couldn't help but ask after hearing Da Gama's name.

"Back to Jianchanghou, it is him, he is a well-known hero of the Franc Machine, he was the first person to discover the new route in the East, and he made a lot of fortune because of it, and was knighted by the King of the Franc Machine."

Pires now really enjoys the benefits of being a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, and he has also plundered a lot of property in the westward journey like other Ming officers and soldiers, so now he is very accustomed to treating himself as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, so after Zhang Yanling asked, he immediately answered.

"What a great hero, but just a bandit ear! Of course, for the Franc machine, maybe it is really a big hero", Xia Yan said, then looked at Da Gama, and asked: "You Franc machine people have always robbed others, but now what is it like to be robbed by my Ming people?" Have you ever thought that revenge would come so quickly? ”

"Dear Orientals, I have to admit that you are very strong, but I hope you can see our sincerity, I apologize for the previous conflict, and at the same time, I also paid the price for my stupidity, and now I only hope that you can protect my life, and I can provide compensation!"

This da Gama now also knows that the fleet and guns of the Eastern Empire are not something he can defeat, so he does not have any arrogant behavior, and Westerners have always cared more about personal life and do not value the interests of the country, so at this time, after being captured by Xia Yan, the first thing he hoped was that Xia Yan could forgive himself.

Of course, this is also the bandit thinking of Da Gama, a senior colonial robber in the West, in his opinion, he naturally has to pay compensation for being captured, and it seems that people in the East only care about making money like him.

Xia Yan didn't plan to rely on Vasco da Gama to make a fortune, as mentioned earlier, he mainly came to the West to inspect, but he may have used a little force on the way to the inspection, which seemed to be too bloody, but he did not affect his original intention of visiting peacefully.

Therefore, Xia Yan felt that there was no need to keep Da Gama, lest this da Gama become an opponent that threatened the maritime interests of the Ming Dynasty in the future, so he waved his hand and said:

"Although Your Majesty said that you are a great hero who opens up new routes in your Franc Machine, it is not a good thing for me Daming, for the people of the whole world, you are a robber, and it is you who started the criminal plunder and massacre, so this official has decided to behead you!"

"Wait! Xia Shilang, Ben Hou suddenly felt that he could still use it, after all, he was the most familiar with the route from this Fran plane to India, and he also had experience at sea, so he might as well leave it to Ben Hou to call, but the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime is inevitable, this Da Gama is not my Ming people, and he is not eligible to enjoy the protection of the law of the Ming Dynasty, and my Da Ming, as the upper kingdom of the Heavenly Empire, is naturally conducive to the justice of those foreign people who died in the hands of Da Gama, so it is better to punish the palace punishment, castrate him, and then leave it to Ben Hou to use. Ben Hou just asked him to help Ben Hou continue westward to see if this place is a ball! ”

Jianchang Marquis Zhang Yanling asked with a smile.

Xia Yan thought for a while and nodded: "Yes!" It's just people who haven't been executed. ”

"We can!"

At this time, the accompanying eunuch Zhang Zhong stood up and said with a smile: "Our family used to be in charge of this in the palace, and I am a well-known expert in this area, and now His Majesty has trained me to become a doctor in the Tai Hospital, and said that I am a rare surgeon in the Ming Dynasty, but my surgery is mainly to cut 0 bags and 0 skins, although the purpose is different, but the technique is still not forgotten." ”